A Heart and Mind Aligned
by TheAeroRee
Summary: Sam's an emotional wreck and Mercedes has a cold heart. When the two meet, she cools him down and he warms her up. AU.
1. He's A Wreck

**I apologize in advance for spelling and grammatical mistakes, inconsistency and incorrect usage of a term or phrase.**

**Now that we got that out of the way, I just want to state something: if Sam's thoughts seem all over the place, it was intentional. For the purposes of this story, Sam is a temperamental wreck. Whatever Quinn did to him (I haven't thought that far) really screwed with his brain and while he isn't emotionally unstable, he is damn near close to it. But you'll never tell how messed up he is when he's talking to his friends. I think that drama can remain in his mind… for the time being.**

**Anyway, it was fun writing this first chapter because Mercedes' name isn't even mentioned in it and yet we all know what's going to do down!**

**Samcedes next chapter!**

Sam Evans trusted one person on this Earth with a vagina and her name was Santana Lopez. The rest of the female population were vicious, gold digging tramps, he was convinced. He had the proof to back up his theory and it came in the form of a beautiful, nearly demonic woman named Quinn Fabray. Which is why he was shocked when Santana called him out on it.

"Sam, fuck off. Just because your luck with girls is shit in it's purest form doesn't mean you should give up on the rest."

"I don't know, girls are pretty troublesome," Britt pointed out as San pecked her on the cheek.

"And that is why I date guys!" Blaine offered sarcastically, as Kurt snuggled into his arm.

"That's not a bad idea," Sam sighed, "is there some kind of brainwashing technique that could be used to turn me out?"

"Yeah," Kurt snickered, "it's called Amaretto Sour."

It was the middle of the day and the five were having their weekly brunch at Joe's Panini Parlor. They all conveniently had break around the same time which was weird considering how different their professions were: Blaine was head chef in an upscale restaurant in Manhattan. Sam was so proud of his friend, Blaine had worked his way up from busboy to his position now and his sweat, blood and tears were worth it in the end. Santana put her manipulative ways to good use as a real estate agent, Britt taught dance at a snobby, rich performing arts school near Blaine's place, Kurt was a photographer making his Broadway debut very soon and Sam was happy as an architect, where he could let his creativity roam and get paid for it too!

"Weak ass," Santana muttered, "Who needs all that fancy shit? Just pass me the whiskey and it's a fucking party." No matter how loaded she was, she could always be counted on to bring the cheap shit.

"Charming," Sam rolled his eyes as Blaine burst out laughing, "as I was saying, all girls are trouble- besides you and Britt, of course."

"No one told you to bed ALL girls- besides me and Britt, of course." San smirked at him.

Sam was gearing up to make a comeback when her phone went off, ending their little banter.

"Hello? What up, girl? You're arriving tomorrow morning, right? I'll be there bright and early to pick you up…. Uh huh…. Okay, one second, girl" she put her hand over the speaker and looked at them, "You guys coming with me to pick up my girl from the airport tomorrow?"

"No," Sam said immediately, "did I not just get through saying how I've given up on women?"

"Shut up, you asexual fucker," Santana rolled her eyes before returning to her call, "Hey girl? I'm bringing the crew with- you mind? ... Alright, then I'll see you tomorrow." As soon as she ended the call, Kurt made a loud, excited squeal,

"Is it who I think it is?"

"Yes, Mamma Mia, it's her."

"Oh, it'll be good to see her again," Blaine grinned, leaving Sam feeling like a total outsider.

"Alright, you guys are purposely doing this, I see, so I guess I'll bite. Who is this mystery person we're going to pick up tomorrow?" Sam sipped his coffee.

"What the hell is in your panini?" Santana's eyes were trained on his plate with a slightly disturbed expression.

"Quit tryin' to change the subject, 'Tana, who is she?" his Southern drawl slipped out,

"You don't know her, country bumpkin," she sighed, "but you will soon." She sent him a mischievous look.

"Like I've said, I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now so don't expect me to be anything but friendly."

"You won't be able to resist, if I were into women, I'd be tapping her everyday." Blaine stated simply and watched as Sam's jaw dropped.

He turned to Kurt who was picking at his salad with disdain, "You can't be okay with him saying that?" Kurt only shrugged in reply, "Normally, I wouldn't but this is-"

"Don't tell him her name, I want them to introduce themselves to each other." San cut in,

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Fine, this is _so and so _we're talking about; even I can't deny the lusty pull she has on men."

"All the more reason for me to stay away from her!" Sam flung his arms out as if to say 'there'!

"No, you've got to meet her, Sam," Brit piped up after not speaking for a while, "and you're going to name one of your children after me" she narrowed her eyes at him

"Children? We haven't even met yet."

"We're _that _confident," San stated as the other four nodded in agreement. All of a sudden, this was beginning to feel like an ambush to him.

"Alright, since I'm not getting a name, tell me how you guys know her."

"We all went to high school together in Ohio and became closer when we all joined the glee club," Blaine explained, "she went off to college in California with our friend Rachel and the four of us came here to NYU and met you."

"I miss college days," Sam sighed with a dreamy expression, "the exams were ridiculous and I'm pretty sure every activity at the parties were illegal but it was fun being on the brink of adulthood yet not being there quite yet."

"To sum all that up, you miss having a different girl to fuck every day of the week." Santana stirred her latte with a bored expression.

"Are you sure you didn't get your genetics wrong? Because I'm nearly positive you're a guy in a chick's body the way you swear," Sam commented, totally knowing Britt would interrupt and she sure didn't disappoint:

"What? But baby, you said it was just a strap-on! You mean to tell me it was real?" her eyes widened as she waited for an answer.

She didn't receive one however, because San had grabbed her pocketbook and began to hit a chortling Sam over the head with it while Blaine and Kurt tried to hold in their laughter and failed.

"Okay, okay! Stop! Tell me more about mystery girl!" Sam said, attempting to distract her and it worked as she put her bag down and returned to mixing her drink. Before she could speak, however, Blaine started talking:

"She's a singer in the making. She signed with Capitol Records back in her junior year of college but didn't start song making until two years after she graduated. Right now, she's working on her single for her album." He finished in a business-like manner, taking everyone, Kurt included, by surprise. He answered their silent questions with a chuckle, "I always said that when she made it to the top, and trust me with pipes like hers, she will, I would write her biography and make millions off her."

"You are such a leech," San sighed, resting her head on Britt's shoulder.

"No, I plan ahead," he winked at her.

Shortly after, everyone paid for their food and split up to return to their occupations. Using, his GPS, Sam drove over to his newest client's house with his mind still on the mystery girl. He was more than a little nervous about meeting her tomorrow. From Santana's confidence, it seemed like there was no way he wouldn't end up falling for her. On a superficial note, Sam was slight worried that she would turn out to be some lay-it-on-thick, slutty, hot mess and he had good reason as 95% of Tana's friends fit that description to a tee. But on a more raw, emotional level, he was scared that she _wouldn't_ be that way, that they would end up hitting if off great and then he'd be faced with the prospect of another relationship. He simply wasn't ready for that yet. The others might have thought that he was joking about being wary towards women and some part of him did find it funny, but another part, one that was still deeply scarred by the injuries _she _left on his heart, really had developed an aversion to women.

Take, for instance, a while ago, Sam had scored himself a particularly wealthy client with an admirable plan for what he wanted his house to look like and so, Sam and a couple of buds had gone drinking to celebrate. They ended up at this celebrity hotspot overflowing with implants-clad, 8 inch heels wearing bottle blondes. His friends were forming little puddles at their table with their drool. Sam tried more than once to get them to buy a couple of beers from the corner store and ditch the place but they weren't having that,

"_I'm going to get laid tonight if it's the last thing I do," his best friend, Puck shot him a look._

"_Yeah, I have my eye on this cute little Asian chick with a rocking body," his other friend, Mike said, focused on something, or someone in the distance._

Sam would later come to find out that that little Asian girl's name was Tina and she and Mike were still going strong. Sam was man enough to admit that he was somewhat jealous of what they had. He longed for someone to fill his lonely bed at night but he had closed his heart off and in turn, closed the door on that part of his life. Or so he thought; now Santana and Co. were trying to force it back open and it terrified him to think he was maybe a little eager to let them. In the back of his mind, it occurred that him that he knew nothing of what this woman looked like, acted like or sound like (because with Sam, music is a large part of his life). Hell, he didn't even know her name! Willing his mind to stop its inner conflict, Sam focused back on driving.

He parked in front of the house and just stood back, analyzing. He was pleasantly surprised with the façade. It was a nice, big, 3 story house; nothing too flashy, but held no doubt that it belonged to someone wealthy. Sam's eyes went over the pale yellow, white and glass shades that ran along the house. Maybe his client needed a little work with his color schemes but he could work with it. To Sam, this was the best part of the job: studying the house before he met the person. There were a lot of things that one could tell from where someone lived. Sam, for example, could tell that whoever he was working with was most likely a shrewd businessman that was loaded but didn't flaunt his money all over the place. Sam was glad because he had had his fair share of people like that in the past. He had been tempted to draw up this intricate, elaborate plan and abandon it halfway just to piss them off but realized the pay was too good to pass up.

Sam couldn't help but wonder why it was so easy for him to conclude someone's personality based on what their home looked like but the moment someone suggested getting back into the dating scene, he panicked. Granted, the two things weren't very relevant to each other, but he felt cowardly and more than that, he felt broken…

Stopping those course of thoughts in their tracks, Sam shook his head to focus back on his work and traveled up the large, grand steps to the huge Chinese-style double doors and rang the bell. It was only a moment before one door swung open and Sam came face to face with a middle aged man in a fancy blue button down that he'd scrunched up to his elbows, black slacks and steel toed oxfords. Tucked under his right arm was a black leather suitcase.

_I knew it, _Sam thought as he stuck his hand out and offered the guy what he hoped was his most charming smile,

"Hello, I'm Sam Evans and you must be Mr. Texon,"


	2. Spanish Soap Scenes in Airports

**This shit is just so weird… I can't even comprehend what I wrote.**

Mercedes quietly cursed her shortness as she reached for the carry on she had stored in the overhead bin. Even the 6 inch boost her shoes provided weren't enough for her hand to even reach the handle. Just as she was preparing to climb atop the armrest, a pale arm shot past her short one and easily grabbed her bag, setting it by her. She turned around and was met with an attractive Hispanic man smiling down at her 5'6 frame.

"I don't know why they'd make them so high up," he said to her,

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it," she side eyed him,

"Not true," he disagreed, "I had to tip toe,"

"You see these hells?" she pointed to her sleek black pumps, "do you really think you have room to complain?"

The man burst out laughing and in doing so, showed off his pearly whites, "I guess not-"

"Excuse me," the irritated woman behind them said, "you're holding up the line."

Mercedes arched her eyebrow at the gall of this woman before grabbing her two bags and starting forward. She barely made it 3 steps before he stopped her,

"Those look heavy, let me carry one for you," he shot her a brilliant smile

She shook her head, "It's fine-"

"I insist," he gently pried her hand off the heavier of the two bags.

Mercedes gazed at the man, trying to read him for an ulterior motive but when he gestured for her to keep walking, she left it alone. Besides, she'd figured him out already. They followed the rest of the passengers off the plane and walked up the ramp into the terminal. Mercedes spotted her friends immediately.

"Sparx!" the curvy Latina ran forward and threw her arms around her, almost knocking her down. Mercedes barely had time to return the hug when she felt Santana's arms being wrenched off of her.

"Move bitch," came the male soprano voice of her other best friend, as he slid his thin arms around her waist and squeezed,

"My turn!" she heard Brittany exclaim excitedly, and the next second, she felt herself being pulled into a tight bear hug.

She mentally counted off each friend as they hugged her. _That means the only one left was… _she thought to herself before feeling her feet leave the ground.

"Mercy!" Blaine continued to spin her around until she finally spoke,

"I missed you too, now please put me down," she laughed, "people are watching like we're some kind of soap opera." She wasn't exaggerating, many people were watching curiously, including her new friend.

"Then let's give the people what they want," he responded quietly,

He set her back on the ground but a moment later, took a knee and grabbed her hand. Mercedes and the others watched in disbelief as he spoke,

"Maria, you've come back to me," he adopted a Spanish accent, looking into her eyes with false ardor, "I've waited for 5 years and you've finally come back to me…" he drifted off, his eyes challenging her to keep up. She wasn't one to back down from a good dare so she played along,

"José," she started, "indeed I have come back to you… but before we move forward, there is something that you must know first."

"What is it, my love?" he stood back up and cupped her cheek tenderly,

She hesitated, looking at the ground for effect, "I'm pregnant,"

"We're having a baby?" he asked her, his voice filled with glee,

"No, you fool!" someone from the quickly gathering crowd called out,

"Yeah, how can it be yours if you haven't seen her in over a year?" another person yelled.

Blaine winked at her and she shook her head in amusement. She knew exactly what he was doing: making sure they had people's attention.

"No, José, _we _are not having a baby, I am. The baby is not yours," she said, tingeing her voice with sadness.

"Aw shit, this is going on YouTube," she heard Santana murmur. She vaguely heard a zipper being pulled on.

"WHAT?" Blaine thundered, "How could you do this to me?" he stepped closer and she in turn, stepped back.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, biting her lip.

Blaine jammed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He paced for a bit, then looked back up at her, his eyes angry.

"Who was it?" he said, his voice dangerously soft.

"Baby, I'm sorry-"

"WHO WAS IT?" he yelled,

Mercedes was thoroughly enjoying herself but it occurred to her that they might get in trouble for causing such a commotion in an airport. She looked around, scanning the area for any kind of authority. She nearly broke character as she spotted a gaggle of guards by the water fountains watching the drama with shameless interest. To everyone else, it just looked like she was avoiding Blaine's face but she was really assessing the situation. Her eyes flitted to her friends. In between San, whose camera was currently focused on her, and Brittany was a gorgeous blonde with crazy plump lips for a white person. Their eyes met and he shot her a grin. She frowned in return but shook it off and returned back to Blaine who was still glowering at her. It took her a moment to recall what he'd asked but she finally remembered.

"Antonio," she answered in a small voice,

"Which one?" he said suspiciously,

"Huh?" she echoed the question in many of the people's head, "how many are there?"

"Don't play stupid with me! You know that both my brother's and best friend's names are Antonio, so which one is it?"

_Eenie, meenie, miney moe?_ She thought to herself, _let's go with the brother. Makes for better drama._

"Your brother…" she looked at the ground,

"Aw hell naw!" someone from the crowd whispered fiercely, "no that hoe didn't!"

Then, Blaine did the unthinkable: he whipped around and pointed to the hot blonde stranger, in pure fury, "You… my own brother… _you slept with my estranged wife?" _Blaine hissed at him. Mercedes honestly thought that Blondie would be slow on the uptake so needless to say, it shocked her when he quickly responded, "I'm sorry, it was in the heat of the moment,"

"Heat of the moment?" Blaine repeated him, "that's your excuse? HEAT OF THE MOMENT?"

"I can't express to you how sorry I am," Blondie pleaded with him,

"How did this happen? You've been living with me for the past few years," he said to him then rounded on Mercedes, "how did you two meet?" he sounded desperate now,

"I… I…" she replied, making tears appear in her eyes,

"It was last year," 'Antonio' said, moving closer to her, "Remember when I had that business meeting to attend in California?" Blaine nodded coldly, "Well, I was taking some time to see the sights when we saw each other in a café and she was crying."

Blaine looked to her for confirmation and she could only nod in response.

"We talked for a bit and she invited me back to her place,"

_Okay, Blondie, _she rolled her eyes as he continued to retell the story, _make me seem like the whorish one who came onto you._

"One thing led to another and… now I'm pregnant," she interrupted, preventing him from degrading her character any more.

"But you didn't tell me that, you said you were on pill," his eyes were intense as they focused on her.

"Yeah well, there's always a chance, right? I guess we were the unlucky ones." She stated coldly,

"That baby is _not _a mistake," he responded heatedly,

"No, but trusting you two was," Blaine said, bringing the two out of their little bubble, "it was the biggest mistake I've ever made… how could you? My own brother?"

"Guys, wrap this up, we've got a dinner reservation for 6," Santana said quietly so that only they could hear.

Mercedes was shocked that the thick crowd was still gathered around them. Did these people really have no shame in minding other people's business?

"Well I guess that's fine. You two can live happily ever after but don't come crying to me for help when your child wants to know which Marino brother is his father."

"Wait! José!" she tried to grab his arm but he moved out of her reach.

"NO. You've made your decision and so have I. And just as well because I've found someone else." He grabbed Kurt, who had been standing, watching the scene in amused silence, and kissed him with passion, eliciting mixed reactions from their crowd. Most people were clapping and/or cheering, but some were gasping and yelling obscenities.

When Kurt recovered from his shock, he glared at his boyfriend. Mercedes did what any other person in that position would've done- she ran outside to the parking lot, leaving the crowd, her new friend, old friends, and luggage behind. She stood outside and waited as the others found a way to make their dramatic exits.

Santana and Brittany were the first to join her as they hadn't been involved in it anyway. Soon after, Blaine and Kurt followed. Finally, Blondie and the attractive Hispanic came last. They stood by Santana's red mini van, which was parked on the outskirts of the lot.

"That was so much fun!" Blaine cheered, ignoring Kurt's disgruntled expression.

"That was fucking weird," Mercedes commented, "and I'm a bit confused… were we just putting on a little play or was that supposed to be a real situation?"

"Fuck if I know," Blaine shrugged, "but it was still fun,"

"You are so weird, Bow Tie," Santana looked to him

"No matter what you say, you must admit it was rather entertaining," he replied,

"Naw, it was pretty damn weird," Blondie agreed with Satan

"I forgot my luggage," Mercedes said, interrupting the discussion, "I need to go baggage claim,"

"No don't," Brittany stopped her with a hand to the shoulder, "You can't go back in there after that. It'll ruin the effect,"

"She's right," Santana said, "we'll go get your stuff; just chill here"

"You don't kno-" she started,

"Mercedes I could spot shit that belongs in your closet from a mile away. Your style is your own," and with that, followed her girlfriend back inside.

"That was… quite a performance," her new friend smiled at the remaining four,

"Thank you… are you a friend of Mercy's?" Blaine asked him,

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Alex, I sat next to her on the plane," he shook all three guys hands.

"Well now that you've met my buddy, mind telling me who 'Antonio' really is?" she looked towards said guy.

"Oh, my bad, I'm Sam," he offered his hand,

"Mercedes," she took it, still trying to figure out a reason as to why he was here. When she couldn't find one, she did the next best thing.

"Why are you here?" she asked,

"Mercy!" Kurt chastised her,

"No, it's alright," Sam shot her a brilliant smile. She was seriously wary of this guy, "When you spoke to Santana and the others yesterday, I was with them, so they asked if I wanted to come and I accepted."

She could spot the lie a mile away; that was _so _not how it happened. "Satan and Kurt dragged you here against your will?" she guessed,

"…Yes," she wasn't at all shocked that she was right; that was definitely something her friends would do.

"Why?" she turned towards a guilty looking Kurt and his boyfriend

"Well," Kurt started, "Sam is the newest addition to our little clique and I wanted him to be here to greet one of the original members"

She shot him a look that clearly said "stop talking out of your ass"_._ She knew that Kurt knew that _she knew_ why Sam was here. The four of them were trying to set her up with this attractive, big lipped stranger and that shit was definitely not going down.

She looked over at Sam who was watching her just as hard. The last thing she needed in her life right now was a fucking _man._

**WEIRD. I know.**


	3. Her Spite

**Now I love some good angst as much as the next person!**

* * *

Sam eyed the chocolate bombshell with unreadable eyes deciding he would always be infinitely thankful for the wonderful couple he'd nicknamed Klaine. Earlier that morning when they were waiting for Mercedes' flight to arrive, Santana and Brittany went to the bathroom to 'freshen up'. As soon as the two girls disappeared through the door, both Kurt and Blaine simultaneously whipped around and faced him.

"_What's wrong, you guys are scaring me," he chuckled nervously, taking in their slightly worried expressions,_

"_Sam, we know you're excited to meet Mercy-" Blaine began,_

"_That's her name? Mercy?" he interrupted,_

_Kurt smacked Blaine's shoulder, "Since my _fabulous _boyfriend already let the cat out of the bag, I might as well fill you in. Her name's Mercedes and while she's my best friend, she is __vicious_._"_

_Sam tugged at his non-existing collar, "Well so is Santana; she isn't called Satan for nothing,"_

"_He's got a point," Blaine acknowledged,_

"_Yes, but their levels of brutality aren't the same," Kurt sighed, watching Sam's face scrunch up in confusion, "to liken it to something, Santana is like rattlesnake venom; rarely fatal but still painful. Mercedes… is like Chemical X infused with hydrochloric acid-"_

"_Understood," Sam nodded his head slowly; he retained enough info from his chemistry class days to realize how dangerous this woman really was, "maybe I'm overstepping my boundaries by asking but why she's so… lethal?"_

"_No, no, that's the perfect question to ask. If Satan, Blaine and I want you two to become closer, then it's only fair you know her history. Mercy has an unfiltered hatred towards men-"_

"_But you and Blaine-"_

"_Let me rephrase, she has an unfiltered hatred towards straight men." Kurt chuckled, then quickly sobered up, "she's been screwed over by them so many times that she just cut off from them. That's not to say, she ignored the entire gender- the exact opposite- she is the definition of a female gigolo,"_

"_Isn't that just a whore?" Blaine piped up,_

"_It's a double standard, babe," Kurt explained, "have you ever noticed that if a man sleeps with multiple women, he isn't shunned by his friends or regard as a slut, he's congratulated, treated like a king. That's how Mercy was back in high school. She'd play coy and charm all the guys but as soon as they got serious about her, she'd drop them on their enamored asses. Some didn't recover, some didn't want to."_

_Sam unconsciously leaned away from his friend, utterly perplexed. This Mercedes chick sounded like a real man-eater to him._

"_I'm not too sure, but I think she's still kind of like that," Kurt said casually, "When we were all in our junior year of college, Mercy called from California. She told us about how she'd found a slightly older man that had changed her thoughts on the male species. She was so in love with him, sending us pictures of them and tickets to concerts that they'd attended together. Everything was going great and it made me happy to see her so happy._

"_So happy, that we posted a couple of the pictures she'd sent us on Facebook. A few days later, a woman contacted us, wanting to know how the hell we'd gotten pictures of her husband and who that black floozy was. We all knew we couldn't keep something like that from her and so, we all flew over to tell her in person."_

"_I remember that time," Sam said, "during summer vacation, all 4 of you said you were traveling together and wouldn't tell me what was going on or where you were going," he recalled their grave faces the day they left,_

"_And now you know," Kurt sighed, "So we didn't waste any time. As soon as she met us at the airport, we told her. One of the scariest things about Mercedes is her ability to keep her facial expressions in check. The only clue about her feelings were her shaking fists- God, her face was so serene when we broke the news, it was horrifying. She took us back to the small single room she had on campus and told us to make ourselves at home while she 'handled some business'. I'm not going to lie, all of us waited with baited breath for a call from her telling us she'd gotten herself in jail for murder. However, nothing happened and we spent the rest of the time there with her, just hanging out. A few weeks later, when were back in New York, the same woman that had contacted us, the man's wife, called my phone, crying that her husband had been sentenced to prison for 15 years."_

_Sam felt his eyes widen, "What did Mercedes do?"_

_Kurt chuckled, "The man, Rory his name was, worked at an all girls school close by to where Mercedes went to college. She snuck into his office one day and put some things that a teacher shouldn't be caught with in it,"_

"_Like what?" Sam inquired,_

"_Viagra, weed, ecstasy, and a couple of other illegal drugs. His wife Sugar was hysterical."_

_Sam was out of his seat by this point, "Why the hell are you friends with someone like that?"_

"_Sam, sit down," Blaine looked around, "you're making a scene,"_

_Sam obligingly took his seat and looked to both men for an answer,_

"_Like I said, Sam, Mercy is damaged goods… sort of like you are," Kurt smiled sadly, "that thing with Quinn was hard on you, I'm sure, and I don't mean to mitigate it in any way, but Mercedes has had worse experiences than having her fiancé have an abortion-"_

"_Can we not talk about that, please?" Sam growled, despite his previous fearful mood. Quinn and that whole mess was still too sore a subject to discuss, even after 6 months._

"_Err, right. So Mercedes isn't perfect- far from it, but she's still our best friend and we love her. I guess… I'm just asking that you give her a chance before you write her off."_

_Sam took a moment to think. He'd come across his fair share of wicked women but they really did seem to pale in comparison, even Quinn. But Sam knew that he was just making an excuse for himself not to get involved with another woman. He trusted Kurt and the others, they seemed like good judges of character and if this woman was really as horrible as she was made out to be, he doubted they would've kept her in their lives. He decided to do just as Kurt asked and withhold any judgment._

"_I promise I'll try my best to befriend her,"_

Sam kept repeating that statement over and over as he watched her size him up. He was thankful that she didn't appear to hate him- just seemed to be extremely wary of him. He was going to try to make small talk with when she opened her mouth to speak,

"You are full of such crap," she rolled her eyes at Kurt, "listen, I flew over here to have a fucking good time, not make a new _friend,_" she spat the last word as her eyes flickered to Sam, who just arched a brow in response.

"You can never have too many friends, Merce," Blaine scolded her, "and lighten up, will ya? We're all going to have fun with you around, just expect another face with us."

"Yeah, you guys will definitely become the best of friends while you're here," Kurt smiled at her, "you have so much in common!"

Sam shot Kurt a glare, knowing he was making a reference about the 'damaged goods' comment he made earlier. His eyes returned to her short form and they locked eyes. He could plainly read the suspicion in the brown orbs and answered the non verbal question in them.

"No, I'm not gay," he said flatly,

"I don't like him," she turned back to Klaine immediately,

"God, you're so stubborn!" Kurt murmured, "Just give him a chance, Cedes," he echoed himself, entering a little staring contest with her. She broke soon and looked back at him. Sam watched her expression soften slightly and thought he'd help her make her decision,

"I'm not a bad guy, I just want to be your friend," his jade eyes intensified as they focused on her chocolate ones. She looked down at the ground and just as quickly, gazed back up at him. He could read what they were saying easily. She was willing to try, but she wouldn't make it easy on him.

* * *

**Rather short, but I just thought I'd give the reader a little dose of what Mercedes' spite feels like.**

**Thanks to my wonderful reviewers:**

**zeejack**

**AnimeMoonlightGoddess**

**Jadziwine**

**Moonlight015**

**LEE**

**xcassielovex**

**Seoulmama**

**chordoverstreetfanactic**

**lovessamcedes**

**anon **


	4. Car Rides and Bisexuality

**Been a while, eh? Sorry about that, now that school's out, I don't have the excuse of being busy with homework but I can blame it on severe writer's block as well as working on like, 4 other Samcedes stories that I refuse to publish on FFdotnet until I finish this one and Not Your Average Wedding. Read on!**

* * *

Sam Evans had put himself into one hell of a predicament. Just an hour ago, he had befriended a woman who put her two timing ex in jail. He looked over at said woman as discreetly as possible in the spacious mini van. Satan was driving, Brittany sat in the passenger seat, Kurt and Blaine took over the second row while he and Mercedes sat in the backseats. She was looking out her window with disinterested eyes. Sam was comforted by the fact that she didn't seem to notice his staring and allowed his eyes to roam over her face even more.

There was no denying that she was damn gorgeous; she didn't seem to favor the 'natural' look when it came to cosmetics as so many women did these ways. It was blatantly obvious that she was wearing makeup, but not obnoxiously so. Smoky black eye shadow complimented her thick long lashes, expertly framing her pretty chocolate eyes while her lips were a delicious apple red that looked more than a little dangerous. Raven locks with strategically placed flips fell across her shoulders. Suddenly, the sun hit the car and cast her into an almost angelic light. Sam thought it ironic after hearing exactly what she was capable of when put to it. Then something red caught his eye and peered closer at her. The bottom layers of her hair were a dark red color, not unlike that of her lipstick. It gave her a sexy edge- like a slightly erotic rocker who wasn't afraid of a bit of glam.

Sam felt his hand reach into his back pocket and take out his handy drawing pad. He untangled the pencil from the spirals at the top and got to work. His hands almost had a mind of their own as he sketched the outline of her face. As inconspicuously as he could manage, he snuck another look at her, memorizing the way her hair fell into face. He'd already decided that he'd cut the drawing off at the shoulders. He used the side of the pencil to try to imitate the slightly windblown look her tresses gave off. Ten minutes passed and he continued to alternate between committing her features to memory and transferring them onto the paper. He looked up for what seemed like the twentieth time and felt his jaw slacken when he met the same pair of gorgeous eyes that he'd just finished drawing.

"You're an artist?" her voice cut through the silence. Kurt, Blaine, and Brittany were all sleeping and Santana was too far up to hear them.

"Architect," he corrected nervously; he couldn't be sure if she was hiding a machete in her purse.

"So drawing is something you like to do on the side?" she turned her body towards him, giving him her full attention,

"Right, but I wish it wasn't. I'd like to start my own comic book series one day," he mentally slapped himself… as if she didn't dislike him enough, now his dorkiness would only repel her more.

"Well I hope you can achieve your dream one day," her lips quirked into the smallest of grins before dropping again. Sam's eyes widened at her kind comment before speaking, "Thank you… so you're an up and coming singer?"

"Yeah I am, so what kind of architect are you, industrial? Commercial?"

Sam was somewhat surprised at the way she deflected the topic off herself but answered anyway, "Uh, I'm a commercial architect but I dabble in the residential area too,"

"I can't imagine there being a lot of money where the residential part is concerned," her lips slipping into a natural frown as she shot him a doubtful look,

"Well you're right about that, no one really wants to have their house builtunless they have a shitload of money and even then, they're so caught up in their dream house that they won't let the architect do what he or she does best," Sam explained with a frowned, thinking back to Mr. Texon from yesterday.

"Insightful," she said, Sam looked at her expecting a sarcastic look to match her sardonic tone but when he saw that she looked genuinely interested, he realized that that was just her natural way of speaking.

"Well as I said before, I hope you accomplish your dream,"

"Thanks," Sam nervously dipped his head, debating whether or not he should voice the question on his mind. It was on the slip of his tongue to ask her why she had such a wicked, for lack of a better term, personality, but he couldn't ask without letting it slip what he knew about her. He looked back up and found her gazing back at him with an expectant look.

"I know you want to ask me something so out with," she looked at him pitifully,

"Well yeah, I wanted to ask…" he lost his nerve and changed his statement at the last moment, "why you changed topic when I asked about you being an on the rise singer," he finished lamely,

"Have you ever heard of an artist called Ed Sheeran?" she asked with an unreadable expression,

"No, I haven't,"

"He's a British artist, I love his music, he has this one song, it's called 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'" she waited until he nodded to continue, "my favorite lyric from him: "They say I'm up and coming like I'm fucking in an elevator,". It's witty, yes, but it also voices the exact way I feel about this business. Everyone treats me as if I'm some kind of fucking kindergartener, sugar coating their criticism and hiring fake ass lyricist, it annoys the shit out of me. I can write my own fuc-"

"We're here bitches, now get out of my car," Santana's voice cut through their intense conversation,

It was only when she moved back to her side did Sam realized how close they'd been sitting. He watched her look out the rolled down window.

"This is a restaurant," she stated calmly,

"Congrats, Sparx, I believe a purple ribbon is in order? I know you don't like blue much," San quipped,

"Only if I can gag you with it," Mercedes returned,

"I didn't know you were into that kind of thing, Cede. Sounds good to me but I'll have to talk with Britt before we make any decisions,"

"Ooh! Can I watch?" Blaine seemed to have woken up,

"For the fiftieth time: YOU. ARE. GAY." Kurt smacked his boyfriend's shoulder with every syllable,

"No he's not," Mercedes watched the pair with disinterest, quite different from the angry, passionate tone she'd just had when speaking with Sam.

Four pair of eyes widened and turned to look at her in confusion,

"Yes, he is," Santana said slowly, furrowing her brow,

"No, he's not," Mercedes repeated, arching a brow in response,

"Well he damn sure isn't straight!" Kurt was eying his boyfriend suspiciously,

"I didn't say that either," she locked eyes with Blaine, who stared back with a warning glance, "Blaine, put them out of their misery, already,"

"I'm bisexual," he admitted, his face reddening when Kurt, Sam and Santana gasped,

"Your suspenders gave you away," Brittany remarked casually,

"Wait a fucking minute…" Kurt said, turning slowly to fix Blaine an icy stare, "you told _Mercy_ and not _me_?"

"I didn't tell her, she figured it out," he replied, lifting his hands as if it would protect him from his boyfriend's wrath,

"_How?_" Sam asked,

"Because Mercedes is incredibly observant. In fact, she had an inkling that I was bi before I did," Blaine smiled shyly,

"Oh yeah? And exactly how did you put it to test, and with whom?" Kurt's icy demeanor was directed at both Blaine and Mercedes,

"That's not really important, is it? It was in the past and now I'm happy with you," Blaine placed a sweet kiss on Kurt's neck, seemingly melting any frigidness from him.

He would've gotten away with it too if Mercedes hadn't laughed. Kurt froze, "_No!_" he looked at her giggling profile, "You? He 'experimented' with **you**?" he shoved Blaine off in an outrage,

"Hey, he needed to know and I was curious," she gave a Kanye shrug,

Kurt's eyes flickered over to his scared looking boyfriend then wordlessly left the car. Blaine, Brittany, and Sam flinched when the door slammed shut. There was an awkward silence in the car filled with shifting eyes and deep blushes until Santana spoke,

"Damn, Merce, only been in town an hour and you're already starting problems?"

Then, everyone simultaneously burst into laughter, including Blaine.

"This is only the beginning," Mercedes shot Sam a smirk, which he returned, only to cover up the nervous feeling he had in the back of his mind.

"But couldn't we have gone to your place, first? My feet are killing me and I just want a bed to sleep in," she massaged her ankle,

"Um, does the word 'reservation' mean nothing to you?" Santana sent her an incredulous look

"Do the words 'four hour flight full of turbulence and 10 minute naps for an acrophobic' mean nothing to you?" she returned,

"Oh, suck it up, Sparx, I saw your shoes and you've worn higher for longer," Satan said while applying scarlet lipstick to her already crimson lips,

Sam eyed aforementioned heels and could only let out a low whistle; she was wearing a pair of electric blue pumps with heels a bit longer than half a ruler. Did Satan just say she'd worn _higher_? Sam's eyes made their way up body, taking in her outfit. She was sitting very ladylike, with her left leg crossed over the other- then Sam noticed that she had very, very nice legs. He could only tell how smooth and long they were because of her gloriously tight, black, mid thigh length skirt. Sam liked that she was somewhat racy, but not slutty. Quinn couldn't seem to tell the difference.

Sam quickly put a stop to any thoughts involving that name and found it to be quite easy, studying Mercedes' body. Her blouse was a pretty peach color that was tight around the torso, showing off her small waist, but had flowy sleeves. When he finished his assessment, his eyes wandered back to her eyes which were fixed on his with clear amusement.

"Like what you see, Trouty?" Sam could practically hear the smirk in Santana's voice,

"I do," he said, feeling bold,

"Looks like Mercy's rubbing off on you already," Blaine smiled at him, "okay can we get out of this car now? The longer we sit in here, the longer Kurt waits, and the longer he waits, the angrier he gets and the angrier he gets-"

"We get it, Top Chef," Santana rolled her eyes, "relax, just dick him down real good tonight and he'll forget all about you and Sparx' sexcapades,"

Before Blaine could answer, Santana opened the door and got out with Britt following her lead. The other three got out as well, walking out of the parking lot and into the restaurant.

"Why does Santana call you Sparx?" Sam asked, holding the door for Mercedes,

"Let's just say I had a mild fascination with Chinese firecrackers when I was younger," she chuckled,

"How young?"

"Maybe eleven?" she grinned tightly when his eyes widened,

When they reached their table, they found Kurt sitting there with a glass of wine and a very annoyed expression. Blaine quickly made his way over to him, begging for forgiveness, which Kurt promptly ignored and then dinner was served.

* * *

The group talked about every and anything. About how Mercedes knew that that guy Alex was gay and there was no way he was flirting with her when he offered to carry her bag. About how long she was staying ("couple of months, I haven't really decided yet"). About her practically non existing love life ("At this point, I'd rather fuck a dog than a man"). Sam became kind of nervous after that last comment. They also talked about their plans for the rest of the week.

Blaine and Kurt couldn't meet with Mercedes until Thursday because of their jobs and Brittany said she'd try to shoot for Friday because she was in the middle of prepping her girls for a ballet recital on Saturday. Santana told her that although she'd be staying at her place, she wouldn't see her much for the first few weeks with all those 'rich bitch' clients she had to deal with. Sam felt bad that Mercedes had flown in from California to hang with her friends but none of them seemed to have time for her. Granted, neither did he, but their friendship was new and… tentative. Regardless of that, Sam decided to take it upon himself to show her the best of New York.

"Well if you don't mind, maybe I could take you around," he glanced at her before taking a sip of wine,

"If you're offering out of pity, then you should know that I'm fine. I can find some things to occupy myself for a few weeks,"

"That's _exactly_ why Sam needs to be with you," Kurt seemed to be in a better mood after he'd gotten some food in his system, "because if I get another call in the middle of the night from some guy wanting to know your address so he can take you out on a date, I'll strangle you,"

"That was years ago, Kurt, get over it," she rolled her eyes, "I'm not like that anymore,"

"You mean you don't use men anymore?" Blaine asked, raising his eyebrows,

"Don't get me confused, I still detest all straight men but, I've come to realize that I shouldn't punish them for their idiocy… their dumb asses will punish themselves."

"I suppose this applies to me as well?" Sam asked with a blank face,

"You're… different. I don't think you're a dumbass,"

"Thanks?" he furrowed his brow,

"But I've learned not to make quick assumptions so I'll just watch and observe for now," she fixed him with a slightly stern look,

"Fuck you, Sparx," Santana swirled her wine lazily, "We all know that you and Trouty will get together, just a matter of time,"

"It is the Gaga truth," Kurt and Blaine both nodded. Britt was playing with her noodles and had checked out of the conversation a while ago,

"If you try to set me up, I'll take you all down from the inside out," Mercedes said in a quiet tone, her eyes ablaze,

Kurt leaned forward until both his and Mercy's noses were touching, "Challenge accepted," Kurt smirked,

* * *

The girls had gone to the bathroom to go freshen up before leaving and Sam, Kurt, and Blaine were talking.

"So are you still petrified of Cedes, Sam?" Blaine asked, with his arm around Kurt,

"No, not petrified, just scared,"

"That's progress!" Kurt clapped his hands excitedly,

"She's… intimidating and kind of cold. But she's also polite and passionate and she's got a gorgeous smile,"

"Congratulations, my friend, you have now figured out the enigma that is, Mercedes Jones," Kurt grasped Blaine's hand and looked to Sam like a proud parent,

"And only in an hour too!" Blaine added,

"Now that you've got her down, you need to learn how to deal with her,"

"Deal with her?" Sam echoed, "How do you deal with a woman like Mercedes?"

"Well how you do you solve a problem like Maria, Sam?" Kurt tilted his head and smiled at him,

"Now is not the time for 'The Sound of Music' references, I'm serious, Kurt, I like her but… she frightens me,"

"Hm, well then maybe you haven't gotten her completely figured out…" Kurt frowned at him,

"What do you mean?"

"He means that if she scares you then you don't know her," Blaine explained, "We know what we told you this morning was a lot to take in but you can't let it shape your opinion of her. We didn't tell you to terrify you, we just wanted you to know what you're in for… but sweetie," he stopped his lecture to turn to his boyfriend, "We never actually asked if Sam was interested in her romantically… we kind of just shoved them together…"

"You've got a point, babe," Kurt seemed to be thinking hard while the other two watched him. Finally, he seemed to have reached some answer within himself because he looked up at Sam across the table, "Sam, do you want to date Mercedes?"

Sam found it difficult to answer that question. He'd only met the woman an hour and a half ago and from what he could see, she was a handful. Did he really want to get involved with someone like her? He could quickly mentally list some cons with that idea: her frosty personality would put a lot of his friends off, her sexiness would have him bashing in guys' faces on a daily basis, and her bluntness would get them both into some sticky situations. He was sure he could handle being her friend but would be capable of being her man? And more importantly, would he able to successfully enter a relationship after what happened with Quinn?

He looked into the waiting faces of Blaine and Kurt.

_Fuck it,_

"Yeah, I think I might be really into her,"

"Yay!" Kurt and Blaine cheered, drawing the attention of some of the other diners, "now the hard part-"

"Getting Mercedes," Blaine finished for him,

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Pursuit **

**Hello, friends, how goes it? Let's chat for a bit. How did you like this chapter? Was I moving too fast in the case of feelings and whatnot? Did Mercedes seem a bit temperamental with her interactions with Sam? If so, then mission accomplished for me! In the next chapter, we'll see Sam and Mercedes get to know each other a bit more, and hopefully, get closer.**

**So about Blaine being bi… I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a bit of a Blainecedes heart… and a Finncedes heart… and somewhat a Mikecedes heart too. BUT don't worry because Samcedes is always OTP for me(; **

**Reviews! Please and thank you!**


	5. Seems Like A Tragedy

**Very Samcentric. Apologies for mistakes in grammar, spelling, etc. And I've just realized that I don't have a disclaimer… oh well!**

**Joking. I own nothing… not even this story (yes I do)**

**Okay, I'll shut up now(:**

* * *

**Monday 10:15 a.m. (two days after)**

Mercedes' eyes flashed open dangerously. She immediately leveled her glare at the open window streaming sunlight into the guestroom. She blinked a couple of times before finally rising out of the comfortable bed. Mercedes knew from the silence in the house that Santana had already left for work. Years of high school sleepovers informed her of how her best friend loved to blast Amy Winehouse early in the morning while dancing in the nude.

She chuckled, recalling the trouble that she, San, Kurt, and Blaine used to get into in their teenage years. Everyone at McKinley knew that their distinct characters were a recipe for disaster and still, they were well liked. Santana was the sexy devil with the humorous yet sharp tongue to match, Kurt was the witty but dramatic trend-setter, and Blaine was the slightly eccentric sweetheart who was liked by many and loved by many more.

Mercedes was the only one of the four with a dual personality. To the outside world, she was the somewhat aloof, nearly always mute one who left a trail of broken hearts in her wake. Behind closed doors, she was a mix of all her friend's qualities plus a few of her own; she was just as funny as Santana, Kurt was her partner in crime in all things fashion, and she and Blaine were two cooky squirrels when they got together.

Mercedes sighed unhappily as she made her way into the en suite bathroom to start her morning routine. Honestly, she'd desperately wanted to go to New York for college with her friends, but when she signed with Capitol Records her manager Matt convinced her to move out to California so that she could start recording as soon as she finished school. She would never be able to forget the looks of anger and betrayal her friends wore when they found out that she wasn't going to NYU with them. In time they forgave her but soon her communication with them became more and more limited; the three were doing their own thing and she was trying to balance classes along with meeting important music executives.

Frankly, she hated California and absolutely detested the life she was leading now- that is, going to a large studio full of egotistical assholes who tried to mold her into some Rihanna knockoff by throwing corny popstar beats, shallow lyrics, and annoyingly persistent hooks at her. Then after her recording session, she would be driven back to her 4 bedroom/6.5 bathroom penthouse by her strong but silent chauffer, where she would sit and try to write more sappy shit to sing the next day. That was a typical day for Mercedes and it pissed the hell out of here for several reasons:

1) She wasn't fucking Rihanna, she was her own person. 2) Who in the hell wants to be driven around everywhere in a stretched limo? 3) Her chauffer, Richard, had rebuffed every single one of her advances. He was either gay or stupid. 4) She had been forced into the penthouse; it was either that or the gigantic mansion the company had bought for her 23rd birthday. 5) Even if she didn't want to be compared to that hot mess Rihanna, she had to admit that their songs were similar in terms of superficiality.

Mercedes much preferred Santana's large loft apartment. It was roomy and kind of lavish, but also homey and welcoming. Finishing her shower, she grabbed a robe and walked back into the room. She had her day planned out already, she was going to finish that mystery novel that she'd started on the plane, walk around the neighborhood for a bit, and then come back to browse motorcycles on her iPad.

Walking to the wardrobe, she picked out a very casual outfit that would work well for her day, tied her hair into a high ponytail and last of all, applied her favorite cardinal lipstick- even if she wasn't going anywhere fancy, she never left the house (or wherever she was staying) without bright red lips, big no-no.

She rummaged through her purse until she found her iPhone and sent Kurt a quick text,

_**So 2day I'm spending my day ALONE**_

He replied within a minute,

_I'm sowwie Cedes but I'll make it up 2 u on the weekend_

She frowned at her phone for a second then replied,

_**Weekend? What happened 2 meeting me w. Blaine on Thurs?**_

She waited impatiently for his answering text,

_Change of plans_

_**So ur just gunna ditch me cos there was a change of your plans?**_

She felt herself getting irritated, she flew over here because they begged her to and now they couldn't make time to hang with her?

_Not my plans, urs_

Her frowned deepened at his comment. She hated when people spoke in riddles. Deciding not to answer, she threw the phone back into the purse and walked out the room, into the hall.

'_And now my day can begin', _she thought, but was interrupted by the loud growling in her stomach, '_right after_ _breakfast'._

* * *

**10:45 a.m.**

Sam paced his spacious living room, trying to figure out how he was going to go about today. He, Blaine, and Kurt had already gone over what he was going to do but he couldn't shake the bad feeling he was experiencing.

It was simple enough, he reasoned with himself, just go over, use that southern charm everyone's always talking about, and drag her out to have fun. But Sam could tell from one day of knowing the girl that it wouldn't be that easy. She'd shoot him that disinterested look that she was so fond off and tell him to get lost.

Sam plopped down onto the plush loveseat and looked heavenward, asking God for help- or at the very least, some courage to actually leave his condo. The real scare for Sam wasn't asking her, that was a simple matter of yes or no, but the actual issue was if she said yes, they would spend a whole day together. Some part of Sam was happy, excited even at the prospect of getting to know the other side of Mercedes. A different part of him couldn't help but latch on to the story of her and Rory.

And for goodness sake, there was fucking _Quinn._

The woman had screwed with Sam's emotions so badly that he didn't know where to begin. The bitch had taken the one thing in Sam's life that he'd been sure about and shit on it. Sam closed his eyes, reliving the memory.

_They were cuddling against the couch, watching Blade Trinity for the fifth time this week when Quinn dropped the bomb on him. _

"_Sam… I'm pregnant," she watched his face cautiously,_

_Sam was ecstatic. He followed up her statement by scurrying off the couch, dropping to his knees and asking her to marry him. His smile widened at the same time that her eyes did and he watched as she whispered yes. He heard her but wanted to tease her a bit,_

"_What was that?"_

"_Yes, Sam, YES!" she squealed then tackled him to the ground,_

_He laughed as she planted kisses all over her face and the two just embraced each other for the remainder of the night._

Sam chuckled bitterly, remembering the weeks that followed.

_Sam walked into his apartment that he shared with his best friend and appointed best man, Puck. It was dark, so he knew that Puck was out, probably screwing another 50 year old in her pool. He walked over to the light and flicked it on. When he turned around, he nearly let out a girlish scream when he saw someone's blonde head sitting on the couch, head bent. When he moved closer, he noticed that it was Quinn._

"_Quinn, baby?" he hurried over, taking her into his arms, "what's wrong? Are you hurt? Is something wrong with baby?"_

"_S-Sam!" she sobbed into his shoulder, "the baby! I had a m-miscarriage!"_

_Sam felt tears streak down his own face but he roughly wiped them away. He had to be strong for his fiancée- she had already reached her breaking point. Sam tried to sooth and comfort her but he couldn't; how could he console Quinn when his own heart was breaking? _

_The next day, Sam called Quinn's doctor when she was still asleep. He wanted to know what they'd done and how to avoid it next time, but he didn't want to risk Quinn knowing. She was in a damaged state and didn't need anything to remind her of their lost baby. Dr. Corcoran said that he could swing by later on today if he felt up to it and he did._

_Sam told Quinn that he was going to go drinking with the guys when she asked him where he was going and left. The trip to Northwestern Memorial Hospital was rather short with all the thoughts flurrying around in Sam's mind. What would his parents say? And Kurt, Satan, and Blaine, what would they think? Blaine had called dibs on being the godfather, how would they take it?_

_Remembering the room number she'd given him on the phone, Sam made quick work of finding it, not even bothering to ask the lady at the front desk for help. He knocked roughly on door when he got to it,_

"_Who is it?"_

"_Sam Evans," his voice cracked, "we spoke on the phone not too long ago,"_

_There was a brief silence before she replied, "Come in,"_

_Dr. Corcoran was a beautiful lady, long brown hair, dark colored eyes and a warm smile. Right now though, her features were all serious, as it should be. She looked up from the chart she'd been reading and locked eyes with Sam._

"_Mr. Evans, please have a seat," she pointed to the two metal chairs in the corner of the room. He gingerly sat down and she took the opposite one, "Some of the things you said on the phone had caught my attention but I didn't want to say anything until you were here in person,"_

_Sam nodded slowly, "Like what?"_

"_For instance you told me that Ms. Fabray had just suffered a miscarriage,"_

"_That's right," he nodded again. Inwardly, he felt like screaming at her. What the hell did _that_ mean?_

_Shelby looked around the room, Sam could practically see the gears running in her mind, "Can you tell me when your fiancée told you this?"_

"_Last night," Sam frowned at her question, "why?"_

_When she finally met his gaze, it was one of pity, "I'm sorry, Mr. Evans,"_

"_Yeah, so am I," he grimaced,_

"_Not as sorry as you will be," she murmured,_

"_And why is that?" he asked sharply,_

"_Mr. Evans, would you be willing to do some blood tests?" she asked in a professional tone,_

"_Why?" he repeated,_

"_Because I believe you are about to receive some bad news," she said softly,_

"_Worse than losing my baby?" he asked with a glint in his eyes,_

"_I believe so," she said very seriously, "forget I asked about the blood tests. Instead, would you be willing to answer a couple of questions?"_

"_I guess so," Sam's confusion was etched all over his face,_

"_Alright," she searched a cabinet until she found what she was looking for and turned back to him, "Mr. Evans, what is your blood type?"_

"_O positive," _

"_Did you sign any documents on February 17th, 2009?"_

"_That's my birthday, no," Sam's suspicion rose with every question, especially when Dr. Corcoran's eyebrows arched at his answer._

"_When did Ms. Fabray tell you that she was with child?" she asked, her eyes focused on a certain spot in the chart,_

"_A couple of weeks ago,"_

"_A couple of weeks as in a month, maybe?" her eyes were still trained onto that particular area,_

"_No, maybe 3 weeks ago," Sam jumped in his seat when Dr. Corcoran violently shut the chart and slammed it onto the nearby desk,_

"_Mr. Evans, I'm sorry to say this, but your fiancée is a bitch," she said with anger in her eyes. Sam could only watch in shock as she stood up and began to pace the cramped room, "I cannot **believe** she would do this!"_

_Seeming a lot calmer than he felt, Sam stood up and asked the question that had been on his mind the moment he stepped into the room, "What the fuck are you talking about?"_

_Shelby stopped in her tracks and whipped around to face Sam. "Sam," she began, alerting him that whatever was going to come out of her mouth would be seriously bad, "I don't know where to begin… she's so evil,"_

"_What did Quinn do?" he moved closer to her, his normally light green eyes dark and dangerous,_

_She sighed and started, "Back in December 2008, a man by the name of Finn Hudson came to talk to me,"_

_Sam eyes widened, already not liking where this was going. What the fuck did Quinn's idiot ex want?_

"_He started asking me personal questions about Ms. Fabray and the baby-"_

"_Where is this going?" he snarled,_

"_That baby wasn't yours," she stated directly, "that child belonged to Finn Hudson. And Quinn didn't have a miscarriage, she had an abortion."_

_The weeks after that were a crazy storm and Sam was right in the middle of it. He called off the wedding, pawned both his and the bitch's rings, and moved out of the apartment. She could have it, he didn't want any reminder of her or their relationship near him. He high tailed it out of Chicago and moved back to New York, restarting his life and cutting off his old one. _

Sam remembered the thoughts that went through his mind during the flight to New York.

_He'd shipped his stuff a few days before so that by the time he got to the city, it would already be there. At the time, it had only been a year since he'd graduated from college and left all his old friends behind. And in a year he'd managed to find the craziest woman in all of Chicago and had come incredibly close to marrying her. He had already filled Kurt, Blaine, Santana, and Brittany on what had happened with Quinn; Santana had agreed to let him bunk with her until he found a place of his own. _

Something about remembering that disastrous time of his life gave Sam the boost he needed to finally leave his studio apartment. Before he could change his mind, he dashed out the door, threw himself into the elevator. When he got out, he stalked over to his car and hopped in, making sure to lock the doors should he try to rush back out.

Sam took several deep breaths. When he felt his heartbeat return to normal, he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. He could drive to Santana's in his sleep so he didn't concentrate too much on driving, giving him more time to think about the last few years.

For a while, it was a struggle to get back on his feet. Every state had different ways to go about becoming an architect. Seattle was a lot more lenient about the requirements to gaining one's license. That of course was no shock seeing as how all anyone ever wanted built was a dingy little bar or a seedy pub. New York was a lot flashier, and in turn, a lot more elaborate- especially the posh part of Manhattan that Santana resided in. He started interning at a firm that had caught his eye to build up his experience and within a year he had began working at that same firm.

Eventually, he became somewhat of a representative for Wright Wing Architecture. He had to admit, it was smart thinking on their parts. An attractive guy with a rocking body who has great creativity? Good God, ship him off to the bottle blonde cougars with too much money for their own good! Sam didn't particularly mind the attention, just as long as they weren't actually making a pass at hi-

Sam cut off his thoughts as he looked out the window. He was here. He'd forgotten how close the group of them lived to each other.

Mercedes was in there. Most likely plotting her next victim. Or she could be eating brunch?

Sam sighed and checked his watch, it read 11:15.

Using the same go-before-you-freak-out method he did to leave his apartment, Sam darted out of the car, forgetting to greet the doorman like he usually did and sped into the elevator. It was only 6 floors and each floor passing wasn't even a full minute but Sam could feel the anxiety coursing through him.

He knocked on the door of the apartment, ignoring how rapidly his heart was beating.

Nearly 5 minutes passed before he even heard a response. Just as he was about to holler her name, the door swished open and revealed an irritated looking Mercedes.

She wasn't wearing anything like he'd seen 2 days prior. She was dressed as if she was about to work out yet still managed to look absolutely stunning.

This couldn't be said about most woman, but she looked even more gorgeous without any makeup on. There was a subtle natural beauty to her face that drew him in.

"Sam," he was startled out of his observations by her voice,

He looked down at her small self, fully expecting the indifferent look she shot him.

"Uh, hey Mercedes,"

"Hey yourself," she leaned against the doorframe, "Santana already left for work,"

"I know, I'm here for you," he stuffed his hands in his pockets, awaiting the inevitable rejection,

She didn't say anything, just arched a brow at him. He knew that she had no idea what he was talking about,

"Don't you remember me offering to show you around New York?" he smiled at her,

She was silent once more. Her expression remained impassive but her eyes gave away her confusion. He saw something that looked like understanding flash through her chocolate orbs.

"I remember," she nodded, "but I also recall me telling you not to bother,"

"Did you say that?" he sent her his innocent eyes, "must not have heard that part,"

She graced him with a small laugh before reining it in, "Well you're hearing it now,"

"Are you rejecting me?" he asked in mock outrage,

She blinked at him slowly, and he was starting to feel self conscious until he saw the amusement return to her face, it was well hidden but he could see it.

"Yes, Evans, now leave," she grabbed the door but didn't actually move it. Sensing an opportunity, Sam placed his hand on the door too, "Don't you want to see the city? Compare artificial California with insomnious New York?"

He saw her eyebrows jump up when he mentioned California, "Your words, not mine," he raised his hands in surrender.

She rolled her eyes and turned her face away from him. But just as quickly looked back at him, "Sam, I appreciate the offer but you're ruining my plans for the day,"

"Which include?"

"Taking a walk, reading a book-"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I've messed up your _crazy busy _schedule," it was his turn to roll his eyes,

"Shush you," she lightly kicked his shin,

Sam grinned. He was starting to understand what Blaine and Kurt were trying to tell him before. She was like a little kid in a sense, rude and mean to all enemies and strangers but friendly towards friends (and acquaintances he guessed too).

"I won't take no for an answer,"

"You will and you are," she made to close the door but Sam forced it back open, "I will hurt you-" she warned,

He didn't doubt that she could but his fear of her was slowly subsiding with every passing minute, "You can either come with me today or I can come by here everyday and ruin your 'schedule',"

He didn't know where he was getting the balls to say all that when 2 days ago, he was inwardly making the sign of the Holy Cross every time she looked at him.

"If I go with you today, you'll leave me alone for the rest of the week,"

"Yes," he lied smoothly,

She searched his face for a bit, looking for a trace of a lie. And he guess she didn't find one because she muttered, "I'll go get changed," and stepped away from the door to let him in.

He did a little fist pump when her back was turned. He was a better liar than he'd thought.

* * *

Mercedes didn't bother to look around when the floor started to creak behind her. She knew the stupid fool was dancing behind her back.

She also knew that his disgustingly handsome face had blatantly lied to her. She was aware that he'd be back tomorrow, and probably the next day after that. She was a pro at sniffing out lies.

What threw her off was the fact that she didn't actually mind getting to spend time with him.

* * *

**Well that was Chapter 5. It was pretty much the back story with Sam and his history with Quinn. There's still more of Mercedes' past to deal with but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. **

**Just a side note, that whole bit on architecture was in no way reliable so don't hold me to it. I would like to become an architect should musicianship not work out so I was just using the basic information that I knew.**

**I know that I said that this chapter was going to be The Pursuit but I've decided to push it to chapter 6. We've got more interaction between our favorite couple next chapter! **

_**Thanks for reading!**_

**And especially thank you to:**

**krazykay23**

**chordoverstreetfanactic**

**ladysnowsu**

**xcassielovex**

**zeejack**

**Jadziwine**

**And Guests 1,2, and 3**

**(P.S. Did anyone catch the Chord quote I used? Hint: It's from the Glee Superlatives!)**


	6. Slow Melt

**Hello, dear readers. It's been quite a long while, eh? I apologize for that but school is seriously taking up my time. I've resorted to reading FF on the trainride ._.**

**You might notice that this is shorter than my usual but I'm sorry to say it might be this way for a while until I can get a good pace going.**

* * *

**Monday, 11:45 a.m. – Santana's place**

Leave the elevator, cross to the other side of the lobby where the revolving door exit was, cross the middle of the street (because everyone jaywalks in New York City) and then climb into the car.

Four simple steps that overall required about 5 minutes tops, depending on whether the light was red or green. But for Sam, time seemed to slow down almost to a complete stop. Okay, that was exaggerating but there was no mistaking that they were being stared at as they stepped out of the lift. _Both _of them.

He wasn't shocked at the looks Mercedes was garnering, in fact, he expected them. Who wouldn't stare at her? She embodied the word fierce. Her walk was surefooted and confident with long dark hair flouncing around her shoulders. She was wearing another one of her lethal ensembles: a simple scoop white dress that reached her mid thigh and clung her body like a second skin, a red jeans jacket with sleeves that stopped right before her elbows, black fishnet stockings, and sky high white wedge sandals. Sam was once again forced to look away from her amazing legs to address the current problem.

He moved closer to her as they walked across the wide lobby, "People are staring," he murmured to her,

"I'm aware," she answered in a flippant tone,

"Does it not bother you?" he asked, glaring at the two guys sending her suggestive smiles,

"No,"

She still hadn't looked at him since they stepped into the elevator. It was as if she was trying to get away from him. But that didn't seem like something she'd do. Mercedes seemed like the kind of girl to confront something or someone she didn't like head on so he doubted she was avoiding him.

_Any why the hell were there so many people in an apartment lobby anyway? Who actually spends time there? _Sam thought to himself.

They finally reached the exit and Sam breathed a sigh of relief that the staring was done when he heard a dark voice close by say, "Well hey there, sweetheart. You look like you need a real man to protect you,"

Sam didn't even realize how far ahead Mercedes was of him until he saw some man crowding her against a no parking sign. He was by them in seconds, ready to tear into the guy but Mercedes beat him to it,

"And you look like you need to yank your head out of your ass," she responded, looking him up and down with distaste, "endearments are for lovers and friends, and you asshole, are neither. Let's go Sam," she finished, not once looking away from her victim,

Sam watched as the guy's face reddened, ready to kick his ass should he try anything on Mercedes. The man's hand shot out and grabbed Mercedes' left arm, "Listen here, bitch," he growled, "You're lucky I even looked at your fat ass-"

Sam was on him already, drawing his fist back to punch his face in when Mercedes shook her head at him,

"Don't worry, I've got this," she stately calmly, like there wasn't a man painfully clutching her upper arm.

Sam had never seen a high kick being utilized the way he'd just witnessed it. Not bothering to wrestle away from the guy's death grip, Mercedes bounced back on her left foot then used the momentum to lift her right leg up and kick the guy square in the chin. Sam watched with both horror and admiration as he fell to the ground with his chin still lifted seconds later.

"I saw that in Bring It On," Mercedes huffed as she bent over and prodded the guy with her foot "get up shithead, I didn't kick you that hard,"

The man had a dazed look on his face but he managed to scramble to his feet and scurry off. Mercedes watched him run while Sam watched her.

When she finally looked back to him, he looked like he couldn't decide if he was terrified or in awe of her.

She blinked at him then spoke, "I refuse to let a man put an unwanted hand on me,"

Sam made a show off sticking his hands deep into his pockets which somehow made her laugh, which made him laugh. After getting over the initial shock of what had just happened, Sam decided he was definitely more in like with her now.

He now took notice of their settings and realized they were far away from where his car was parked. When he pointed this out to her, she shook her head and requested that they not drive to Times Square.

"Well then how do you suppose we get there?"

"We're not too far from the actual place, right?" she looked up at him with pensive eyes,

"Not at all," he responded, trying to get a read on her expression, "we all live relatively close by to it,"

"Maybe we could take the train there? I've never ridden one before," she almost seemed shy about it,

"Never?!" Sam didn't mean to sound as shocked as he did,

She shook her head again, "So… can we? Take the subway?"

"Sure, sure, but the closest one to hear is a good 20 minute walk," he looked to the left, the direction of the station,

She gave him a doubtful look before digging around in her hobo bag. When she found what she was looking for, her hand reached out to grab Sam's shoulder (which was quite a feat considering the height difference between these two) and slipped off her shoes. Sam looked down and watched as her tiny feet slipped into navy flats with large bows on them. She tucked her wedges into her large bag and looked at Sam expectantly. He stared back at her in amusement before deciding to take his chances and say the joke that entered his mind,

"I'm glad you take such pride in being an American but Independence Day isn't for another 10 months," he chuckled,

Mercedes' eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her outfit. When she realized that she was indeed wearing red, white, and blue she rolled her eyes and started forward, with Sam quickly catching up.

A few minutes later, she spoke out of the blue, "Knowing about your love of comic books, I would've thought that if you were going to make any jokes about my outfit, they would relate to Captain America," she didn't look at him, but waited for his response,

Sam didn't reply however, because he was too busy trying not to blatantly ogle her and was failing, miserably.

"You know about that?" his eyes widened as they took her in,

"When you weren't looking, I stole your drawing book when we were in the restaurant the other day."

Sam opened his mouth, ready to chastise her but something else came out instead, "Did you put it back?"

"Well of course. But you really are amazing at catching little details," she looked at him with a small smile,

"Well thanks," his responding smile was a lot wider

* * *

**12:55 p.m. – Train**

"_This is: 34__th__ street, Herald Square. The next stop is: 42__nd__ Street, Times Square," _the operator announced,

Sam knew that Mercedes hadn't heard him because of her earphones so he nudged her gently. He expected her to give him a look of annoyance so when she only popped out the earphone closest to him, he stared at her curiously. He supposed he was growing on her.

"We're getting off the next stop," he murmured to her,

She nodded and put her iphone away. Except for a few lusty looks here and there, no drama happened on the subway which shocked Sam. The one place he expected Mercedes to be harassed was in the train station but no one had approached her.

Sam decided to voice his thoughts to Mercedes who predictably rolled her eyes, "Sam, out of the two of us, who do you think is receiving the most attention?"

"Is that even a question?" he stared at her bemusedly, "obviously it's you,"

Mercedes went quiet at his response. She didn't know how to handle Sam. He was kind and somewhat innocent and so damn _oblivious _to everything! How can she be cold to someone so unintentionally nice?

She dropped her original response to his statement and instead said, "No, we're both getting looks because we're both amazingly hot,"

He smirked at her, "You think I'm hot?"

And just like that, her attempt at being pleasant evaporated into thin air.

* * *

**1:05 p.m. – Times Square**

"Well, welcome to the Empire State of Mind," Sam announced as they stepped out of the train station. He turned to look at Mercedes reaction at the large, busy area.

Her eyes were bright with awe as she took in her surroundings. People were bustling about, tv screens were attached to buildings, places to shop, eat, and visit were everywhere. Lights lit up the streets, cartoon artists, bag stands, and pretzels carts littered the sidewalk. Everything was just so vibrant and _real._

Sam just stood by, amusedly watching all the expressions flicker on her face. He was so used to unaffected face that this kind of a treat to him too. She was gorgeous all the time, even with her detached look, but when she smiled, she emitted warmness and this glow that drew him in.

She turned to him with radiant eyes and an equally brilliant smile and said, "Where to first?"

"Depends," he grinned down at her, "food or shop-"

"Shopping," she at him with a look of deep concentration,

"Okay," he laughed, "well there's an Aeropostale close by… should we head there first?"

Her expression morphed into something sassy, "Don't make me go Joan Rivers on your ass. I dress my nieces in that kind of stuff. Where are the small unexpected boutiques?"

He chuckled at her sudden playful mood, "All over the place, actually,"

"Well then lead the way, good sir," she slipped her arm through his and waited for him to start walking,

As they crossed the street, Sam unthinkingly spoke what he was thinking, "You know, I like this loose, carefree Mercedes,"

He inhaled sharply at his slip of the tongue and waited with baited breath for her to reply. When nothing came, he chanced a look at her and found a small smirk on her face.

"I think I like her too," she finally said,

* * *

**Can I just say something really quick: please refrain from reviewing with things like "Please update soon" and leaving it at that. I know it's tempting to do -I'm guilty of it quite a bit- but it really doesn't encourage me to keep writing, it's just a bit annoying.**

**Moving on:**

**I thought about writing in detail Sam's efforts to pursue Mercedes but perhaps that might be a bit... redundant? I think instead, I'll just slip in instances in which he subtley flirts with her. How she reacts... you'll just have to find out(:**

**NatashaBryant**

**ladysnowsu**

**zeejack**

**masterajoy**

**mizzjuicysarai**

**Jadziwine**

**krazykay23**

**Alliecattie3**

**dayviiareader**

**Oh! And mizzjuicysarai, the quote was "Two cooky squirrels" from glee superlatives. Not sure which volume though :|**


	7. Burning

**Monday 9:47 p.m. – Times Square**

"Favorite color,"

"This is like the fifth time you've asked,"

"And I will keep asking you until you change your answer," a single perfect brow shot up in response,

"Why? What's wrong with brown?" Sam asked in an exasperated yet amused tone,

"What's great about brown?" she countered,

"Brown is warm and calming…"

"Brown is murky and grotesque," she huffed adorably,

"Your eyes and skin are brown," he pointed out,

She rolled said eyes before responding, "I know, murky and grotesque like I said,"

"I beg to differ, your eyes are large and doe like. Not to mention that they fucking glitter. And don't even get me started on your skin; it should be illegal to have such smooth-" Sam cut off at the stunned look on Mercedes' face,

"Y-you are not normal," she stuttered for the first in her life,

Sam was a deep crimson by this time, "I get that a lot. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable… sometimes I don't think when I spea-"

"When's the last time you've had a girlfriend?" she asked suddenly,

Mercedes immediately noticed the dark look on Sam's face and wondered if she'd just brought up a tabooed subject.

"About 6 months ago," his response was brisk and uncaring,

Mercedes wanted to ask more but thought it wiser to steer away from that topic, "Uh thanks… for that whole thing,"

"I meant it," he tilted his head to hide his burgeoning blush,

"I know. That's what throws me off about you," she muttered quietly.

Still he heard her and felt his skin returning back to normal as he studied her. She looked nervous- something he couldn't imagine before today. Two pearly white teeth were clamped down on her deep red lower lip. Her eyes were fastened on the empty cup where her pumpkin iced latte used to be.

"Celebrity crush," Sam said suddenly after a minute of awkward silence,

Mercedes bit her lip in thought. That was a hard one, a lot of stars were hot but she didn't actually like them enough to call it a crush. Well there was…

"Mark Salling,"

"The mohawked guy from that clichéd music show?" Sam asked, utterly surprised

"God, yes!" Mercedes fanned herself comically, "he's got those smoldering hazel eyes and all that muscle!"

Sam frowned. His friend Puck was constantly being told of his close resemblance to the tv star. No way were he and Mercedes ever meeting.

"Hey hey hey!" Sam nudged her playfully, "you've got a green eyed hunk with plenty of muscle sitting right across from you,"

"I never said you weren't attractive," she said, failing to hide the grin on her lips

"You never said I was," Sam countered,

Mercedes leaned closer to him and shot him a seductive look before speaking, "Sam, you are a sexy green eyed beast with more muscle than you probably know what to do with,"

Sam, tamping down the flustered feeling he sensed bubbling up, smirked at her and moved even closer until their lips were mere inches away from each other, "Mercedes, I lied before,"

"About?"

"When I said I'd leave you alone after today. I'm taking you out everyday of this week,"

Mercedes tried unsuccessfully to keep the smile off her face, "Well duh. I knew that already,"

Sam narrowed his eyes at her, "No you didn't,"

Mercedes tilted her head in response, not saying anything,

"Oh shit you did," Sam's grin drooped, "well then why'd you agree to come with me?"

"Because for some unfathomable reason, I feel that I can trust you," Mercedes looked troubled,

"You can," Sam said sincerely,

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something between the two of them had subtly changed and Sam was glad for it. She was starting to let him in.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" she asked after a moment of silence,

"I want to know more about you, what are some of your interests?" he leaned his chin in his palm,

"Motorcycles, archery, skiing, I took up kickboxing for a while but then I started losing all my curves and I can't have that-"

"Does cooking not appeal to you? Knitting perhaps? Something that wouldn't kill you or put you in the hospital?" Sam shook his head. He should've known.

"Don't be sexist," Mercedes rolled her eyes, "I like cooking but remember when I was telling you about my fascination with fire crackers?"

Sam nodded.

"Well that stemmed for my interest in fire so I don't recommend standing by me in a kitchen,"

Sam blinked slowly before replying, "So we're going to the Bronx Zoo tomorrow. Make sure to wear something comfy,"

Mercedes had her usual collected face on but there was something mischievous in her eyes. Rather than feeling scared, as he would've hours ago, now he was just slightly nervous.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting, to say the least.

**Monday 1:15 a.m. – Santana's place**

Mercedes watched Sam drive off before stepping into the building. She rode up the elevator, thinking about today.

Sam was charming, funny, and a genuinely nice guy. She let her guard down for the first time in years and just let herself smile and laugh with him. Her face muscles were sore as expected; she was always careful to guard her expression. If people couldn't see how she was feeling, then they couldn't use it against her. That was always her reason when Mercedes questioned why she acted the way she did.

But with Sam, she _wanted_ him to see how she was feeling. She _wanted _to open up and let him into her world. Mercedes didn't know how much Sam knew about her but from what she could tell, he didn't really seem to care.

She opened the door to the condo and came face to face with a smirking Santana.

"How was your day out, Sparxie?" the Latina plopped down on the sofa and turned on the tv,

"You know damn well how it went," Mercedes hissed, shoving her friend to make space on the couch, "You, Kurt, Blaine fucking _ambushed _me with this guy!"

"Where's Britt's name in your accusation?"

"Brittany is too sweet to set me up against my will. Don't try and change the subject! What's up with you guys pushing this guy on me?"

"Sparxie, don't even try and act like you aren't taken with him. We saw how you two were interacting at dinner on Saturday. You like him,"

"No I don't. I just don't dislike him," Mercedes huffed, staring at the screen,

"That's a double negation which is the same as an affirmation of the original statement," Santana chuckled,

"Bitch, don't go English professor on me right now," Mercedes shook her head, "this guy is trouble, I just know it."

"Why? Didn't you just say you like him?"

"NO. I just said I don't disl-"

"Cedes," San cut in with a knowing look, "Sam's a legitimately nice guy,"

"I know… but it's like… he's _too _perfect, like flawless almost," Mercedes murmured,

"That's where you're wrong," San's voice turned serious, "Sam's been through his fair share of horrible shit too. He's got a dark side- a really dark one- but he just does a good job of hiding it,"

"How is telling me this going to help make me want to trust him?" Mercedes said after a second,

"Because you were bitching about how the guy was too good to be true. I can understand distrusting someone that seems all around a good person so that's why I'm sharing with you that Sam's got his own set of issues."

"You're probably right; I'm only shooting myself in the foot by fighting this… connection we have, yeah?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded, "we're you guys going tomorrow?"

"The zoo," Mercedes smiled deviously at her,

"Jesus, take the wheel!" Santana moaned into her hands,

**Meanwhile…**

They were at his apartment again, watching the organic food channel whileeating fat free popcorn. Or at least, Kurt was. Blaine was fast asleep in his lap.

"Guys… I have at least 1000 channels on my tv. Why do you insist on choosing either this or that weird yoga program that probably no one besides you watches?" Sam asked the couple, toeing off his shoes.

"Because Samson, some of us want to stay healthy for the rest of our lives. You might want to consider doing the same," Kurt shot him a look before returning his attention to the screen,

Sam scoffed at the comment and rubbed his flat stomach.

"You're just jealous I have a 6 pack," he remarked, heading for his bedroom,

Kurt coughed, drawing Sam's attention. He yanked an unsuspecting Blaine's shirt up, revealing the chiseled chest. Blaine woke up and looked around confusedly, "What's going on? Why is my shirt up? Kurt, are we doing that role play thingy again?"

"Okay, I'm disappearing for the next 5 minutes so you guys can discuss… what he just said," he pointed at the two then booked it into the bedroom.

Today was fun, he decided. He was knocking down all those icy walls that Mercedes had built around her; it was a slow but sure process. He now felt awful for all the less than flattering thoughts he had about her after hearing about her from Kurt and Blaine.

Sam was starting to understand what the two had meant by figuring out how to deal with her. It was quite simple once you really talked to her. She had a really shitty past and people had fucked with her big time. Now, in order to prevent such happenings from occurring again, she closed off her heart and shut down her emotions.

Well Sam was definitely not going to let her continue down that road, not after today. He had a small advantage because Mercedes seemed to loosen up around him and smile more. He was definitely going to milk that for all it was worth.

When Sam emerged from the room, he found Kurt and Blaine making googly eyes at each other and had to stop himself from gagging. How many times did he have to witness foreplay between those two?

"There will be no fornication on my couch. That's where I watch my baseball and I assure you, knowing that two men engaged in sexual intercourse where I'm seated will _not _make me happy!"

Blaine rolled his eyes then narrowed them, "You don't think there's something a little gay about guys running around in tight pants chasing balls?"

Kurt suddenly burst into loud laughter, especially after glancing at Sam's frowning face.

"I'm changing the lock on my door,"

"Go right ahead," Kurt grinned, "we'll just make a copy of Brittany's pair,"

"She wouldn't,"

"It's Brittany," Blaine deadpanned,

"She would," Sam sighed, "alright, just… please do it on the floor if you really must," he begged the couple, sitting in the singular chair to the side,

"Right now?" Kurt's eyes widened in excitement,

"NO." Sam's eyes were wide with fear, "Sweet Baby Jesus, no. I was just saying… in case I'm not around… never mind, this conversation has gone long enough."

"Then let's talk about your day with Mimi!" Blaine sat up and turned to him,

"Mimi?" Sam echoed,

"Mercedes," Kurt explained,

"She has several nicknames, doesn't she?"

"There's only three: Mercy, Cedes, and Mimi," Blaine replied,

"No, Tana calls her Sparx,"

"Ohh right… Mercedes was a dangerous being as a child," Kurt shook his head, "but anyway, tell us what happened!"

"We went to Times Square and looked around all day. Then went to a little café to chat and eat where we played 'Favorite So and So' for about 3 hours,"

"What did you learn about her?"

"That for all her confidence, she doubts the way she looks and she's an adrenaline junkie,"

"Oh right, did she tell you about her obsession with motorbikes?" Kurt shuddered,

"Yeah, amongst other things,"

"Hey don't knock it 'til you try it," Blaine cut in,

"Ugh, I forgot that this idiot loves motorcycle riding too," Kurt shook his head at his boyfriend,

"Really?" Sam asked him, intrigued,

"Yup. Me and Mimi used to go riding every week in high school," he grinned,

Sam locked eyes with Blaine and sent him a meaningful look. Whenever they got the chance, (meaning whenever Kurt wasn't around,) they were going to discuss what had happened between Blaine and Mercedes back then.

"I also just spent some time getting her to loosen up around me. By the time we were ready to leave, she smiled every time I spoke,"

Kurt and Blaine were wearing identical smirks.

"What's wrong with you two?"

"You should see the dopey grin on your face." Kurt said

"You like her a lot," Blaine added,

"I probably do," Sam admitted shyly.

**Hey there! School started back up and even my weekends are busy so there's no time to do anything! In fact, the only reason I was able to update was because I had a sick day (ugh). Hope you enjoyed it, and next chapter, you get to see Mercedes' more mischievous side!**

**Thanks to:**

**FanFicFanGurl101**

**QTFics**

**erchills**

**Guest: PurpleLove**

**Guest**

**krazykay23**

**zeejack**

**annabelle001**

**justjose29**

**NatashaBryant**

**Can I just say, that I am utterly biased towards Blaine? I think everyone realizes by now that I give him the funniest lines. I can't help it; I love me some Blaine!**

**Mmkay, I'll shut up now.**

**Please review and let me know your thoughts. They're always really inspiring.**

**Until next time!**


	8. Mischief: Managed

**Hi hi! It's been a while and all I can really say is that school + writer's block is like ****the**** worst combination in existence. **

**So just some news about my other fanfics:**

'**Mercedes Jones Officially Does Not Give A Damn' is really fun to write. I've gotten a lot of pms asking for the next update and I honestly have no definite response. The next chapter is such a big moment that I can't seem to write good enough to do it justice. I keep typing, then rewriting it, and deleting. It should be up in a while – ****when**** is the issue.**

'**Not Your Average Wedding' is being put on hiatus. I have written myself into a rut that I can't seem to dig myself out of. It isn't in my nature to write smut and I might have accidentally implied that I was going to so now I have to figure out how to skillfully go around that.**

**Enjoy this next chapter! It's super long x_x**

* * *

**Tuesday 10:53 a.m. – Santana's Place **

"Mornin' Miss Jones," Sam walked into the kitchen where Mercedes was making herself breakfast.

She glanced at him before sighing, "You know, this whole 'give everyone keys to each other's places' thing is really **not **a good idea,"

"Why?" he looked over her shoulder at the eggs cooking on the pan, "Don't like the idea of me waltzing in here whenever I please?"

Mercedes stiffened at the proximity of their stances. His chin was resting on her shoulder while his arms were on either side of her with his hands resting on the sides of the stove. When the hell did they become so comfortable with each other?

"No I don't. I also do not like the idea of you standing so close to me," she sassed him,

"Scramble those eggs and I'll move back," Sam grinned, sending chills down her spine.

She lifted the spatula in her hand towards his face in a silent threat, making him laugh.

Sam moved away to raid the fridge and Mercedes was angry with herself for missing the warmth his body provided.

"So do you want to take the train today too? We can take my car but it'll be about a 2 hour drive," he pulled out a container of orange juice.

"Can we drive today? Public transportation is not for me," she shook her head,

"You're not about that life, huh?" he smiled at her when she slowly turned to stare at him.

"You should be shot," she frowned,

"Well that's not ni-"

"With an arm gun,"

"Merce-"

"During hunting season,"

Sam kept his mouth shut, waiting for more.

"Like a vulnerable bird," she finished,

"You done?" he asked, amused

"Just about," she answered, fixing two plates of food,

"…So we're driving? Cool, you're going to love the view,"

"I bet," she said with her back to him,

This time it was Sam's turn to frown, "…Do you do that on purpose?"

"Do what?" she turned to look at him,

"You always sound so sarcastic and unexcited- even when you are happy about something," he tried to phrase it so that he wouldn't end up pissing her off,

"I dunno. I guess it's a result of steeling myself up all these years. But with you, I'm always being genuine," she brought their plates to the table Sam was sitting at.

"What are you saying, Mercedes?" Sam's eyes bore into hers with an unshakeable intensity,

"I have no idea; it's the morning and I'm totally out of it. Ignore me," she dipped her head into her hands.

Sam watched before grabbing both hands and placing kisses on both of her clenched fists. She looked up at him with a guarded expression.

The look on her face made Sam switch gears and so instead of saying what he wanted to say, he thanked her for making him breakfast.

She just shook her head and dug into her food.

Sam followed suit and started with his eggs (which were scrambled!). Inwardly, he had just decided to increase his efforts to gain her affection.

* * *

**11:48 a.m. – High Bridge**

They were still on the High Bridge behind traffic and the awkwardness was stifling. Sam tried to stir up some conversation but Mercedes had reverted back to her cold shelf – which was a bit of a defense mechanism, Sam was learning. She used it whenever she felt uncomfortable.

Well Sam wasn't going to let her start back up again. They were going to nip this tension in the bud while they were stuck on this long ass line for the pay toll.

"Mercedes, can we talk about what happened at the house?" his said softly,

"Talk about what? How I slaved over the stove to cook your stupid scrambled eggs?" she grumbled while looking out her window,

Sam chuckled darkly. _Oh she was going to be difficult now, huh?_

"There was a fork right by you at the time,"

"And?" she looked at him sharply,

"What else would you need a fork for if not to scramble the eggs?" he returned her look,

"Uh, to flip the omelet over so it won't burn the place the fuck down?" she replied incredulously.

Sam smirked, glad to have her finally speaking to him in sentences instead of those frustrating one-worded answers.

"You _know _you were going to scramble those eggs in the first place!" he stated smugly, "tell me I'm wrong!"

"YOU'RE WRONG." She said loudly, looking at him with wild eyes,

"That's the Mercy I know and love," his smirk widened,

When she got quiet again, he looked to his side.

"… You don't love me," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear her,

"You want my honest answer to that or should I change the subject?" he asked,

"Chan- "

"Too late, I'm giving my answer," he cut her off.

Fact #120: If you wanted Mercedes to listen to you, you had to play her game.

If she wanted to be stubborn and unhearing of everything, Sam could do it too.

"My answer is… that I could… if you let me," he watched her face closely,

Her eyes were glossy but not one tear fell from them. She quickly turned her head to look outside her window once more, "You can't love me. I'm way too fucked for a good guy like you. I'd only hurt you and you know it,"

Sam ignored the pang in his chest at her words, "And how do I know that? You come off as this tough, cold individual but in reality, you're just someone who's been screwed over in the past and-"

"I know Kurt and Blaine told you!" she whipped back around to look at him, "I know they told you about me and my past and my insane shit! Why in the name of all that's holy would you want to be with a crazy, manipulative bitch like me? _I'm nothing but trouble, Sam Evans."_

Sam silently watched her chest heave deeply as she calmed down.

"You done?"

She whipped her head around and shot him a look that clearly told him to be careful of his following words.

"It's been what, 3 days since we've met? I think it's slightly ridiculous of you to try and sway me _not _to fall for you when you know damn well it's already happening."

She scoffed at the knowing look he gave her before muttering, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's bullshit. You know because I can tell you feel it too. You like me and that's why you haven't beaten my ass down."

That got the smallest crack of smile to appear.

"Can we talk about this at some other time?" she said tiredly after a minute had passed

"Why not now? We've got lots of time while we're backed up in traffic," he indicated the many cars in front of him.

"Sam, please. Let's talk about anything _but _this. Please." Her voice sounded strained but Sam could hear the pleading behind it.

He sighed aloud, deciding to drop it for now.

"Alright then, you never did finish your counterargument for why Matt Bomer would make a better Snooki than Snooki…"

* * *

**1:13 p.m. – Bronx Zoo**

Sam could not _believe _this was happening.

He stared with a gaping mouth (similar to everyone else watching) as Mercedes pet and cooed the ferocious lion. The beast had completely betrayed its wild nature by sitting patiently and allowing its fur to be smoothed down.

The zoo guards were in such shock at the scene that they stopped their ministrations to get Mercedes out of the cage to gawk at what was happening.

Sam shook his head as he sunk to his knees.

Ten minutes.

Literally, he had left her side for 10 minutes to go grab them some hot dogs and cotton candy. What does he find when he gets back? Mercedes slowly but confidently making her way to the wild feline who is watching her with what Sam could almost swear was an amused expression.

People around gasped and yelled things like "Is she crazy?"

Sam looked around for the guide only to find him standing perfectly still with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Someone finally snapped out of their shock to call the zoo security guards.

The head guard ran to the front of the cage, murmuring instructions to Mercedes on how to escape without enraging the lion.

With a cautious expression, she back away until she was leaning on the side of the cage, the large cat following after her. Slowly she sidled down until she was right next to the cage door.

Sam shoved people out of the way as he made his way to the front to watch. His heart was beating out of his chest. Sweet Jesus, what if the lion finally realized that it was a fucking _carnivore _and lunged at her?

The crowd was silent as everyone watched for both Mercedes and the lion's next move. The beast watched her unblinkingly, taking in her still form.

"Slowly edge into the exit," the head guard instructed her,

She followed his directions and closer still the lion moved until his giant paw was touching her high wedges.

"On the count of three, step out. Kyle, Max, be ready to close the door as soon as she's out of it." Two burly men moved forward and placed their hands on the open cage door.

Sam had never felt so much fear in his life. This was a very risky situation. One misstep and Mercedes would end up as Simba's brunch. His breaths were quick and erratic as his whole body shook with barely contain panic.

"You ready?" the guard asked Mercedes, who slowly and very slightly nodded her head,

"One… two… three!" she took one large step back and the two guards slammed the door shut, quickly moving their hands away from the roaring lion. The feline thrashed against the cage, growling scarily.

Sam moved forward and caught a swaying Mercedes into his arms. Her body trembled violently in time with his own.

"You… are you fucking _insane? What possessed you to climb inside a lion's cage? Did you forget that lions eat __**meat?**__ You could've died, Mercedes!_" he snarled into her ear.

She let out an odd sounding laugh, "I told you I'm nothing but trouble…"

He looked into her face and found her expression to be calm, save her completely wild looking eyes.

Before he could comment, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see the head guard looking extremely pissed and an equally angry zookeeper.

"You two, come with us," he said darkly,

Sam finally looked around and found the wide eyed looks in people's faces.

* * *

**9:23 p.m. – Santana's Place**

"_Puta _is crazy," Santana said, reaching for her nail file,

"You guys are banned from the Bronx Zoo for 7 years? That's intense," Blaine flipped through channels,

"You're focusing on the wrong thing… she almost got herself killed climbing into a lion's cage. Do you understand the magnitude of what I'm telling you?" Sam looked into each of his friends' faces with disbelief,

"Sam, we heard you the first time you stormed in, completely ballistic, telling us what happened. Mercy had a moment of stupidity and petted a lion," Kurt said by the stove.

Said woman was watching the scene unfold uninterestedly from a stool by the kitchen island. She couldn't honestly say why the fuck she did what she did but she didn't think Sam needed to be so dramatic about the whole thing. She was okay, she was alive.

Sam looked around, finally realizing that this kind of behavior wasn't unexpected from Mercedes. He walked up to her, tension in every step he took. He still couldn't even look her straight in the eye without having a mini panic attack.

The ride home was quiet and anxiety-ridden. Sam was jerky the whole drive back. Mercedes watched him glance at her every so often, as if she was about to jump out of the car while it was speeding. He wouldn't put it past her crazy ass.

"Mercedes…."

"Yeah," she cocked her head up at him,

"Can you please… never… _ever _do anything like that again? For the state of my heart and mind?"

She bit her lip, contemplating his plea, "Sam, I promise to tone it down. No more crazy shit like that from me… but don't expect me to calm down completely. That's no fun," she grinned at him,

"That's probably the best I'm going to get from you," he slunk into the stool next to her, most of the stress leaving his body.

Blaine, Kurt, Brittany, and Santana watched with matching smiles.

* * *

**Wednesday 3:15 p.m. – Central Park **

"Okay," Sam muttered to himself, "this is safe. What could go wrong?"

He made his way over to the passenger side where Mercedes sat patiently, waiting for him to open the door.

Her outfit managed to wow him as simple as it was. She wore a slightly large pale pink sweatshirt tucked into light blue skinnies. Tan booties gave her the discreet boost in height that she loved so much. Her hair was in a messy yet effortlessly beautiful bun, the oversized grey knit scarf topping her casual look perfectly. Perhaps the best part of her look today was the cute, slightly hipster looking pair of glasses she had on.

Sam was shocked to find out that those were actually prescription glasses- usually she just wore contacts.

He opened her door and offered a hand, which she took to help climb out of the seat. Locking the car, he led her over to the park's entrance.

She nodded, "Ohh…"

"What?" he looked down at her taking in the scenery,

"When you said dress casual, you meant _park casual_. Sorry, I didn't come prepared for this. You can just take me home now," she looked at him,

"Nonsense. You're dressed perfectly for today. Besides, we won't be spending the whole day here. Just for a while and then we can walk up to Columbus Circle."

"That sounds like a lot of work for my feet," she glanced at her heeled shoes,

"If it gets to be too much, I'll just carry you," he winked at her,

"Oh, you've got jokes now," she huffed, starting into the park,

"What? No! I'm being very serious right now,"

"Yeah, okay." She muttered, rolling her eyes,

"So how is that it's fine for Blaine to literally sweep you off your feet at the airport but if I merely make the implication…"

"Well Blaine is Blaine, for one," she smiled, "I've known him for longer and we've been through a lot together,"

"You must really adore him," Sam commented,

"He's my best friend, aside from Tana of course," she grinned at the ground.

They walked in silence for a bit. Sam's eyes went over the beautiful greenery around them. A nearby lake reflected the moss colored trees surrounding it.

He knew what he wanted to ask her but he didn't want to seem like he was prying just for the sake of being nosy.

"Come on, Evans. I know you want to ask me so just do it,"

Sam looked back at her, immediately spotting the smirk on her lips. He chuckled before looking away to speak, "So… fun times with Blaine and Mercy during high school?"

When he looked at her, she was full on smiling at him, "You're probably going to judge me but here goes…"

_Mercedes rolled her eyes as Anthony Rashad attempted to flirt with her. His jokes were corny, his lines were unoriginal, and he smelled like he had just bathed in axe for an hour._

_She downed her spiked punch to avoid listening to another 'astronaut, your anus/Uranus' joke._

_She had already had a few drinks and the party was only an hour in. Mercedes knew that by the time it was over, she would be smashed._

_She looked down into her empty cup with a pout before smirking back up at Rashad whose eyes were trained on her chest. She didn't blame him, the only thing stopping her see-through top from giving everyone a good show was the camisole underneath it. That didn't stop the top of her breasts from slightly spilling over their confinement._

"_Hey Rashad," she used her seductive voice, smirking when his eyes focused back on hers, "pretty cool party, huh?"_

"_Yeah," he said, showing off his admittedly brilliant smile,_

"_You know how it could be much better?" her eyelashes fluttered,_

"_No, why don't you tell me?" he said in one breath,_

"_I could show you better," she set her cup down and moved closer to him,_

"_I'd like tha-" before he could finish, she smashed her lips to his, gripping his collar as he returned her kisses eagerly._

_Their mouths moved quickly together. There was nothing romantic about their kisses and that's just the way Mercedes liked it, with lust but no passion. At one time, Rashad tried to slow their kisses down by rubbing her sides up and down slowly and massaging her tongue gently with his but Mercedes was not having any of that sappy shit. In response, she bit his bottom lip hard and mumbled into his mouth "Don't go soft on me, man. The other guys on the football team would laugh if they knew you were trying to be tender with me. I'm not here for that."_

_He quickly got the message and continued their rough tongue play until he moved his lips to her neck, leaving marks and scratches there. Mercedes smirked when he pushed her onto the couch. Down a seat, another couple were getting ready to fuck._

'_Uh, no. Ain't nobody got time for that.' She thought as she watched the two eat face and feel each other up._

_Mercedes forgot her own ministrations with Rashad to call the couple out. _

"_Hey, if you guys wanna fuck, great, but grab a fucking room. There are a whole bunch of people here fine watching you two swap herpes infested saliva but the moment I see any dick or vaginas come out that's where I draw the line!" she finished, not caring that most of the partiers were watching her and the couple._

_Both wore faces of shock before the guy snapped out of it and stood quickly. He gave Mercedes a dirty smile before murmuring in her ear, "No need to jealous sweetheart, if you wanted to join in, all you had to do was ask, right Maya?" he turned to the girl who was close enough to have heard him,_

"_Absolutely, I've never had lesbian ebony sex before," Maya slurred, revealing her intoxication,_

_Mercedes rolled her eyes, completely over this bullshit. She looked around and found that Rashad had left the scene. Pussy ass._

"_I'd rather slice out my vagina and donate it to those sad losers who sit in front of chatroulette and jerk off for 4 hours than ever have a threesome with you basic idiots." She said sharply, earning a loud burst of laughter from the watching crowd, "So here's what I suggest, you develop a civilization, create an irrigation system to quench your __**thirst**__, and find your village whore. Then come talk to me about fucking-"_

"_That's enough Mimi," Blaine appeared, saving the couple from anymore cutting remarks, "I think they know not to do whatever they did again,"_

"_I sure as hell hope so," Mercedes replied, eyeing the red couple before allowing Blaine to pull her away from the main area._

_They settled into an unoccupied room where Mercedes flopped on the bed. Blaine shoved her off to one side before sliding in the spot. The two lied there on their backs, facing the ceiling with a comfortable silence._

"_Where's Kurt and Tana?" she asked after some time,_

"_Santana is with Brittany and Kurt…" his eyes flickered around the room nervously,_

"… _didn't come to the party at all because he's still nursing his wounds after you rejected him?" she guessed with knowing smile,_

"_I didn't reject him!" Blaine said loudly,_

"_Woah there, buddy. I'm only repeating what I heard," she patted his flat, chiseled stomach._

"_Kurt told you I rejected him?" he questioned,_

"_Not exactly in those words but that's what I gathered from what he told me,"_

"_Like I said, I didn't reject him," Blaine said stubbornly, "I'm just not su-"_

"_So having a guy kiss you and pretty much tell you he's been crushing on you since sophomore year and you responding by stammering around looking for words you don't have before leaving isn't rejection?"_

_Blaine sighed, "Why'd you have to put it like that?"_

"_That is what happened, is it not?"_

"_Pretty much,"_

"_So why sugarcoat it?"_

_Blaine was quiet for a bit after that. Then he suddenly turned on his side to stare at the side of Mercedes' face._

"_Are you mad?"_

'_What an odd question,' she thought,_

"_No, why should I be?"_

"_Because I hurt him, I hurt Kurt with my actions. I know you two are super close so I would understand if you aren't too happy with me."_

_She sighed, still not turning to face him, "Yes, Kurt is one of my closest friends but then, so are you. I'm not going to pick a side because it's not my place to. And that goes for Tana and Britt too –although I'm not really referring to Britt as much as I am San- we have no say in your and Kurt's relationship."_

"_I wish…" he said trailing off,_

_She finally mimicked his position so that both of them lay on their sides, facing each other._

_Blaine's eyes were downcast, hiding his hazel orbs from her._

"_I wish that people could see this side of you," he said quietly,_

_Mercedes groaned, "Not this again, Blaine. I don't like being vulnerable to public because they take advantage of me,"_

"_You weren't being vulnerable right now," he argued, "you were being a great friend… a compassionate friend. I was just commenting on how I wished that people got to know this part of you instead of dubbing you the 'Ice Bitch'."_

_Mercedes focused her gaze on his chest. His comment probably didn't mean to, but it did hurt her. She knew that she wasn't the nicest person but was that really what people were calling her behind her back?_

_Blaine watched the emotions flit through her eyes even though they weren't looking into his. He saw the hurt immediately and cursed himself for damaging that careful unknowing bubble he'd placed around her. He, along with San, Britt, and Kurt made it their personal goal not to ever let Mercedes hear or know about the shit people said about her. People didn't know her and so they did what teenagers do best and judged her._

_He grabbed her into a tight bear hug, rubbing her back in comforting circles. Somehow to Mercedes, this felt much better than whatever the hell Rashad was attempting to do before. She buried her face in his collarbone, holding back the tears that threatened to appear._

"_I'm okay," he heard her murmur to herself, "I'm tough, I'm hard, no one can get to me," he felt her body stiffen and frowned when she tried to push away from him._

"_Don't do it, Mercy." He said, "we're here for you, _I'm _here for you. I understand you need to keep your walls up to everyone else but don't shut us out. We love you,"_

_With that, she crumbled. Her arms latched around his neck as she bawled into his chest, "What the fuck is love, Blaine?! What does that word mean and how can I learn it?" she bawled, "you know that I have no family to call my own. My father hates me for supposedly killing his wife. He thinks I killed mom! MY MOTHER, HE THINKS I MURDERED HER. THAT I'M THE REASON CANCER JUST SWOOPED IN AND STOLE HER FROM US!"_

"_Shh, Mercy, shhhhh," tears fell down his own cheeks and disappeared into her hair, "I know. You're living with a man who won't willingly look you in the eye for anything, I know… which is why I don't understand why you refuse to let me go to child services. They could help you get away from your dad-"_

"_No, Blaine. This is my senior year. By June, next year, I'll never have to see his face ever again." She said, her determination drying up her tears,_

"_You'll never see our faces again, either," Blaine said sadly,_

"_That's not true and you know it," she gave him a watery smile, "I'll come visit you guys in New York. I'll be over so much you guys will get sick of me and beg me to go back to Cali."_

"_We'd never do that," Blaine chuckled, trying to cover up his increasing sadness about her split from the group._

"_Oookay," she rolled her eyes, "you say that now but when I finish your box of rice krispies treats when I'm staying over, you won't be whistling the same tune,"_

_Blaine kissed her. He moved his lips against hers softly._

_Mercedes had yet to move, still recovering from the shock of the situation. Soon after, she kissed him back, adjusting to his gentle nature. His tongue smoothly pried her lips open before sliding into her hot mouth. His hands had a firm grip on her sides as their tongues tangled and twisted together. They only broke apart to gain some air before returning to each others' mouths._

…

_An hour had gone by._

_Blaine watched the hand tick slowly around the clock. Mercy had dozed off a while ago and he was tempted to run off and avoid talking about what had just taken place but he stayed. The last thing he needed was to lose her trust due to his cowardice. So he stayed, and listened to her light snores._

_What the hell had just happened? One moment, she was assuring him that they'd stay in touch and the next moment, he was all over her lips. He was pretty sure up until this point, he was gay. Now, not so much._

_And why the fuck didn't she stop him? Why didn't she shove him away and go, "You want the D, Blaine! Remember that!"?_

_He slapped a hand over his face, not realizing that the loud clap would jolt Mercedes awake. She cast a nervous look, one that he very rarely ever saw on her._

"_Do you regret it?" she asked, looking up through her lashes,_

"_No, not at all," he replied immediately_

"_Oh. Okay. Now what?" she sat up and brought her knees to her chest,_

"_I don't know… we kissed. But you're a girl and I'm supposed to be gay…"_

"_Supposed to be?" she arched a brow,_

"_Well what just happened wasn't exactly what I call man-on-man action," he smirked,_

"_You're right," she laughed, "but it was fun,"_

"_That it was," he nodded_

"_So… you're bisexual now?" she chuckled,_

"_I guess. I won't ever test it out with any other female besides you." He shrugged,_

"_Not even Santana?"_

"Especially _not her," he shuddered, drawing a laugh from her._

Sam's eyes felt like they would drop out of their sockets from the long period of time that he spent widening them.

"You guys fucked? For real?" he said,

"Sam, you heard everything I just said," she rolled her eyes "and… I want to let you know something,"

Sam slowly regained his composure, "What's that?"

"Up until now, the only two people who knew about that whole high school thing were Blaine and I. I hadn't told anyone, ever. Obviously not Kurt, but I also kept it from Santana and Brittany, who would've no doubt kept the secret for us. I think that the fact that I'm telling you, someone I've only met a few days ago, means something."

Sam boldly crowded her against a gate, ignoring the great pounding in his chest, "Yeah? What does that mean?"

"That I'm willing to…" she trailed off, meeting his glance tentatively,

Sam nodded, understanding immediately what she was having a hard time trying to say. "I'm definitely willing- I mean, I'm still here even after you climbed into a lion's cage," they both chuckled at that.

"Are you not going to let that go?" she deadpanned,

"Woman, it was _yesterday_. Too fresh, and too crazy for me to forget about it."

She laughed, staring above his shoulder when Sam gently grabbed her chin and lifted her face so that they were staring deeply into each other's orbs.

Suddenly, something caught Sam's eye. He zeroed in on the darkening color of her cheeks and laughed at the fact.

"Who would've thought?! Mercedes Jones _blushes?_" he gasped mockingly,

Mercedes hissed her teeth playfully before shoving him away. He dramatically shoved himself backwards before grabbing her by the waste and crushing her lips to his. She was unresponsive for 5 seconds before she slipped her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss. Their tongues slid slowly together, lapping after each other harmoniously.

Sam knew this was not proper kissing etiquette but he couldn't stop himself from smelling her. She smelled like some kind of amazing blossom aroma and her hair's scent was intoxicating. She pushed away slightly to laugh at him, "Are you sniffing me?"

"Yes, problem?" he arched his brow, hoping she wouldn't comment on the pink color quickly spreading onto his face even though he had taken no such consideration for her.

"_Who would've thought?! Sam Evans_ blushes?" she imitated him perfectly,

"Hush, you," he said before pulling her back into another earth shattering kiss.

* * *

**Favorite moment(s) anyone?**

**Any 'woah I didn't see that happening' instants?**

**Please share your thoughts in that box down there! **↓ ↓ ↓

**Pinkfuzzie**: I hope I did it justice(:

**zeejack**: thanks so much for your review

**flanmaja****: **thankyou!

**PurpleLove:** LOL. That he does,

**Guest #1:** Finally! Someone understands me! Everyone is also so 'anti-Blainecedes'... blah! Hope you liked this chapter!


	9. Problems Already?

**A/N: Hi. Nice to see ya'll again!**

**9:10 a.m. – Sam's apartment**

For the first time in a very long while, Sam woke up with a smile on his face. It could have been due to the fact that he had scored a project with that hellish richbitch client of his, Texon. Or maybe that he was getting a haircut today (he knew it was time once he felt his locks creeping down his neck). But in actual reality, he knew it was because of a certain stunning women with a deep past whom he could proudly call his lady as of 3:18 p.m. yesterday.

Sam sat up in bed, his eyes wandering over to his iPhone that sat on the bedside table. His hands itched to reach over and call Mercedes but he didn't know if the action would be appreciated. After all, it was only 9 am and you didn't have to know her for long to realize that Mercedes is _not _a morning person.

Deciding not to risk it, he settled for a cute text.

_**Morning, gorg!**_

He felt like such a teenage girl, sitting there waiting for her to reply. He laughed at himself when the feelings of nervousness and anticipation shot through him; so this is what dating Mercedes Jones meant.

He waited 5 more minutes and when she didn't yet answer, he decided to shower and maybe get some breakfast.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, his peripheral vision caught the flash on his phone, alerting him to a new notification.

Note: this is a lie, but Sam would never admit to immediately seeking his phone out once he was out of the bathroom, not even to himself.

He sped over to the table and unlocked his phone, his breath unknowingly held. He released a happy sigh when he saw her reply:

_**There is nothing good about this morning… well except your text. That's pretty awersome.**_

Sam shook his head amusedly. His lady was one of a kind.

**10:37 a.m. – Santana's place**

"Merceeeedddddes. You got some 'splaining to do!" Blaine barged through the door, seeking out his best friend.

Mercedes heard him through the guest room and yanked the comforter up to her nose and pulled the pillow on top of her head, completely hiding herself.

Her breath hitched when she heard the door to her room open.

"Mercedes, I'm warning, I will go all Gayberry on you right now if you don't get up this instant."

_He wouldn't… _she thought to herself, horrified.

"_And _I will do both Rachel AND Kurt's parts, complete with the signature triple B at the end."

_Triple B? No.. he can't do that… that's inhumane. Spare me and the rest of this apartment building from the Berry Broadway Belt._

There was a brief period of silence as Mercedes mentally called his bluff. Blaine counted to 3 in his head before he began.

"_Forget your troubles_

_(Happy days)_

_Come on, get happy,_

_(Are here again, the skies above are clear again)_

_Shout hallelelujah_

_(So let's sing a song)-"_

_Blaine, please. Stop. This is bringing back unpleasant high school memories. _Mercedes shuddered, still refusing to budge.

Finally, the Triple B was upon them. Back in high school, it was crazy to witness Rachel and Kurt belt one after the other, but neither had anything on Blaine so Mercedes was significantly more terrified of hearing him go through with it.

So much so, that she finally jumped up as he was prepping himself for the last few glory notes.

"I give! I give! Just please, stop the Gayberry song. It bothers my soul." She said with her face in her hands.

"Morning, Mimi!" Blaine walked over to stand by the foot of the bed, as if he wasn't just about to assault her ears.

"I hate you sometimes," she murmured quietly.

"You love me," he replied with a smile, "get dressed, we're going out to brunch."

"But.. what about Sam?" she asked confusedly,

"What _about _Sam?" he asked a knowing smile.

"Well since my three _supposed_ besties ditched me and left me with the new guy, I thought everyday of this week, he was taking me sightseeing."

"Well not today. Today, you're all mine and Blainecedes is going to fuck shit up!" he flung himself on the bed.

Mercedes stared at him with disturbed eyes.

"Just let me call Sam to let him know." She said, still wearily eying her eccentric best friend.

For some reason, she didn't want Blaine to hear the conversation between she and Sam so she moved to go into the bathroom.

When she almost made in, Blaine dashed over and blocked her entrance. Just as Sam picked up, he plucked the phone from her loose grip and spoke into it.

"Hey, Sam!"

Sam sounded justifiably confused, "Hey Blaine… why are you calling from Mercedes' cell."

"Because he's a nosy little busybody with a penchant for singing annoying Broadway mash-ups." Mercedes snatched her phone back and returned back to the bed with Blaine in tow.

"I'm… confused."

"We were just calling to let you know that today, I will be taking over as tour guide for Mimi."

"What? But why? Mercedes, I figured that after yesterday we could-"

"What happened yesterday?" Blaine cut in sharply,

"You didn't tell him. Have you told anyone?" Sam asked Mercedes.

"Not yet. It's not like I was waiting, it just didn't come up in conversation." She shrugged, forgetting he couldn't see the action.

It was quiet on the other side and Mercedes wondered if she had just said something wrong.

"Someone wanna fill me in here?" Blaine asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Well I would ask Mercedes to tell you, but obviously it isn't important enough to mention in conversation." Sam huffed.

Mercedes stared coldly down at her phone, not noticing the shudder it sent through Blaine.

"You're right." She said calmly before hanging up.

It was quiet as Mercedes moved around the room, searching for her toiletry bag. Blaine had an idea of what just happened but he knew that the standard waiting period for Mercedes was at least 20 minutes. If you pushed too much, too soon, she'd shut you out and that would be the end of it.

She wordlessly walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

**10:45 a.m. – Sam's apartment**

Sam groaned loudly.

Why did he have to fuck things up so quickly? He didn't mean to snap at her but the combination of having Blaine with her so early in the morning, knowing their history plus her indifferent tone about not telling their closest friends aggravated Sam and he took out on her.

He contemplated calling her back to apologize but he had the feeling that she didn't particularly want to speak to him at the moment. He'd have to find a way to impose on their little Blainecedes date.

It's not that he was jealous of their relationship- okay so maybe a little, but not too much- he trusted Blaine and could see how happy Kurt made him but… the little insecure voice inside his head that Quinn had implanted was clouding his judgment. But he wouldn't let it mess with their newfound relationship, there was no way that was happening.

**34****th**** street Starbucks – 1:27 p.m.**

"So are you going to tell me what went on this morning?" Blaine sipped his caramel macchiato

Mercedes stared out the window with an enigmatic expression.

"Sam and I have begun dating-"

"Finally!" Blaine cheered, "We knew we were making the right decision pairing you two off."

"-and you just witnessed our first couple's fight. We only got together yesterday afternoon and already we're pissed at each other. This is why I don't like dating. It never works out." She sighed.

"Wait so… this morning, Sam was irritated because you didn't tell me, San, Britt or Kurt yet?"

"Yeah," she stirred her mocha latte.

"Mmmm… I don't think so."

"What?" she stared at him,

"Sam isn't one to get upset over something like that. That can't have been the reason why, or at least it isn't the only reason. Something else is bothering him."

Mercedes began to think as she took in his words. What else could she have done to irritate him so early in the day?

"You said, you guys got together yesterday, right?"

She nodded silently.

"Did anything else happen? Like did you say or do anything?"

Blaine watched her think for a second when her eyes slowly widened.

"Shit."

"What?"

"I told him about us in high school." She met his gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I told him about how you and me… you know."

Blaine blinked at her slowly. The two stared at each other with blank faces until they spoke in unison.

"He's jealous."

…

The mall at Herald Square wasn't all that interesting. The stores were dull and lifeless compared to the ones back in Cali.

Blaine and Mercedes still had fun though; they chatted and caught up on each other's lives. They sat at a table right outside the mall and people-watched, making up weird and funny background stories about pedestrians as they walked past them.

Mercedes had to use the bathroom. Blaine waited for her at the table when he spotted an ice cream truck. He made his way over to the short line and stood, waiting.

When the person in front of him got their cone, he made his order. As he dug in his wallet to pay for his and Cedes' ice creams, a 10 dollar bill reached past his face and up into the palm of the ice cream guy.

Blaine turned to find Sam, accepting his change. He placed Blaine's cone in his hand and held onto Mercedes'.

They made their way back over to the round table and sat quietly, staring at each other.

Sam knew Blaine long enough to understand that he wouldn't be the one to break the silence. Blaine continued to watch him with a knowing look.

Finally, Sam cracked.

"I fucked up."

"Yeah, you did."

"What do I do to fix it?" he asked quietly,

"Well for one, you can stop being a jealous prick about it. Cedes and I were in high school. It never got as serious as I think you feel it did. We're best friends now. I have Kurt, she has you, and more importantly, even if I didn't have Kurt, I still wouldn't do that to you because you're one of my best friends."

Sam looked down at his hands, feeling guilty. "Blaine, man, I'm really sor-"

"I'm not finished," Blaine interrupted. "You can't get on her every time you feel some sort of way about a situation. Mercedes does not work with that. She isn't the girl who gets back together and breaks up with the same guy. If she feels that it isn't working, she'll cut you off with no hesitation. And I'm being honest with you Sam, if it's you or her, it's going to be her every time. Kurt, Britt, and Santana would agree in a heartbeat but hopefully it'll never come to that."

Sam sighed dejectedly, "Hopefully…"

Blaine's expression softened taken in his friend's sad disposition.

"Sam, I'm rooting for you guys. I really am your biggest supporter but don't mess it up before it can even begin. That won't make anyone happy."

"You're right. Where is she by the way, her cone is starting to drip." He looked around.

"I'm here."

Sam turned to see her standing behind him with a small smile. He jumped to his feet and turned to her.

"Hi,"

"Hi,"

The two smiled shyly at each other until Blaine cleared his throat.

"I think I saw a David Bowie cd in Target that I suddenly have the desire to buy." He moved past them back into them mall.

"There's no Target in there." Sam chuckled, handing her the melting ice cream.

"I know," Mercedes smiled

Sam moved to side, drawing out Blaine's previous chair for her and sliding her in when she sat. He sat down across from her, watching her lick the mess of dripping ice cream before loading into what he had to say.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start problems so early in our relationship. I have my issues but I'm working through them."

"Okay."

"Okay?" he smiled.

"Okay."

**Okay, they're dating. Now that that's out of the way, let's start some adventures!**


End file.
